Sage Parnassus

Fertile Observations and Family Diaries

2012-01-28T18:04:00.000-08:00

It is possible to see the more in winter, because the things to be seen do not crowd each other out. - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 1 p. 86

Edith Holden, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

We are having a mild winter here in Minnesota - so far. Charlotte Mason has some common-sense advice from her Vol. 1, Home Education. There has been no problem following it this year!

Winter Walks as Necessary as Summer Walks
The question of out-of-doors exercise in winter and wet weather is really more important...If the children are to have what is quite the best thing for them, they should be two or three hours every day in the open air all through winter, say an hour and a half in the morning and as long in the afternoon.

snow on the hydrangea

Pleasures Connected with Frost and Snow

When frost and snow are on the ground children have very festive times, what with sliding, snow-balling, and snow-building. But even on the frequent days when it is dirty under foot and dull over head they should be kept interested and alert, so that the heart may do its work cheerfully, and a grateful glow be kept up throughout the body in spite of clouds and cold weather.

Winter Observations

All that has been said about "sight-seeing' and "picture painting,"...and observations to be noted in the family diary, belongs just as much to winter weather as to summer; and there is no end to the things to be seen and noted. The party come across a big tree which they judge, from its build, to be an oak - down it goes in the family diary; and when the leaves are out, the children come again to see if they are right. Many birds come into view the more freely in the cold weather that they are driven forth in search of food.

Our family diary, a perpetual calendar called Rosemary for Remembrance by Tasha Tudor

I love the mention of this "family diary". Here it seems to clearly be referencing nature observations. The only other place that I could find the term was in Vol. 5, p. 341 in reference to a young man who began a family diary in which each member would write in the language they were working on with hopes of mastering the different languages - another great idea! The diary we use sits open by the door on a writing desk and the children record nature happenings as well as social events and personal milestones- an interesting cornucopia of events which they deem most interesting.

Here is the way William Cowper describes some winter scenes in his poem The Task -

The cattle mourns in corners where the fence screens them.

The sun, with ruddy orb Ascending, fires the horizon.

Every herb and every spiry blade stretches a length of shadow o'er the field.

The sparrows peep, and quit the sheltering eaves.

The redbreast warbles still, but is content

With slender notes, and more than half suppress'd;

Pleased with his solitude, and flitting light

From spray to spray, wheree'er he rests he shakes

From many a twig the pendent drops of ice

That tinkle in the wither'd leaves below.

And I love Miss Mason's parting words of confidence -

There is no reason why the child's winter walk should not be as fertile in observations as the poet's; indeed, in one way, it is possible to see the more in winter, because the things to be seen do not crowd each other out.

tin-punch lantern hanging from the stick hut

Wishing you many fertile observations this winter,

Nancy

Shakespeare and the Starlings

2012-01-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

Last fall, we had a huge flock of strange birds take over our feeders for one day. Many of them banged into our windows and one even fell to the ground, lifeless. We identified the rowdy visitors as starlings and we haven't seen them in our yard since.

Here's what the intruders looked like. Not very pretty.

I recently learned that starlings are not native the to U.S. Eugene Schieffelin brought them here. Actually, he brought about one hundred of them from Europe and released them in Central Park. He had this obsession to introduce all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works to America, no easy task as Shakespeare mentions over 60 different birds. His experiment with starlings was wildly successful in one sense - they spread like crazy, leaving the U.S. with over 200 million of these pests. Our feeder visitors are included in that number. His attempts to introduce bullfinches, chaffinches, nightingales, skylarks, and song thrushes failed.

On order...

Funny, but the starling gets one lone mention in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I:
"The king forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer. But I will find him when he is asleep, and in his ear I'll holler 'Mortimer!' Nay I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion."

I read this story about Mr. Schieffelin and his plan in an excerpt from Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. And that excerpt is from this book, which I recommend snuggling up with on cold winter mornings.

edited by Gary Schmidt and Susan M. Felch

For more on Eugene, Shakespeare, and the starlings, see this interesting New York Times piece which details some of the wild methods used in attempts to eradicate the species.

So, if you're still reading this, you might be interested to know that a group of starlings is called a "murmuration" AND if you've ever witnessed a starling mumuration, you know that it is a spectacular sight. I have seen this here in SW MN while driving out on the prairie. This 5 minute video captures it nicely.

From joy to joy,
Nancy

Dear Stephanie - A Word About Attention

2012-01-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

paying close attention

Nancy,
I have a question for you and your readers. How would you go about teaching older children the habit of attention when they have not been previously trained this way? I have a lot of reasons that I failed in this, one of which is that I made lessons too long and arduous and our school feels overwhelming to my children. Focus is not a strong suit, which of course leads to a lot of chaos! I have 3 different grade levels, soon to be 4...I feel that if we don't work on this FIRST, then nothing else is going to work. Tips? Insights?
-Stephanie

Stephanie,
Thanks for the great question! Let's see who might chime in here with some advice. I'll get us started. I think you have made a keen observation when you said that the habit of attention needed to be worked on FIRST. And it is a problem, particulary if you have been accustomed to doing the opposite. I speak from personal experience. I trained myself to tune-out during sermons and school. Why did I need to pay attention when I knew there would be a review of the material the day before the test ? I formed a cycle of inattention as a child. I wanted something so very different for my children and a Mason education has given them that.

Charlotte Mason was on top of this problem.

It is difficult to explain how I came to a solution of a puzzling problem,––how to secure attention. Much observation of children, various incidents from one's general reading, the recollection of my own childhood and the consideration of my present habits of mind brought me to the recognition of certain laws of the mind, by working in accordance with which the steady attention of children of any age and any class in society is insured, week-in, week out,––attention, not affected by distracting circumstances...It is not easy to sum up in a few short sentences those principles upon which the mind naturally acts and which I have tried to bring to bear upon a school curriculum. The fundamental idea is, that children are persons and are therefore moved by the same springs of conduct as their elders. Volume 6, p. 14

From that quote, we can say -

There are natural ways the mind works and we need to recognize these.
It should be a long-term, lifelong habit.
Distractions should be removed.
Always remember that children are persons. Always. (She always brings it back around to this, doesn't she?)

I suspect that you already know most of that information, but it bears repeating. At least it does for me. If I understand the underlying principles, I can apply it to just about any subject. Every subject in a Mason education requires full attention. If I am not expecting the children to pay full attention to something, it isn't part of our lessons. (See my post, Time Value for related ideas.)

As the mother/teacher, (I wear both hats - homeschool mom and teacher in a ~~co-op~~ community of 13 students), it is soooo important to model and practice this habit of attention. That means focusing on the student and not the book when he is narrating. That means occasionally letting them read the lesson aloud to me and modeling narration. (They LOVE this.)

Mrs. Taber and the walnuts

That said, I think that starting slowly, but purposefully is important with students not accustomed to this. If you wanted to run a a marathon, you would start out slowly, adding more distance as you master each mile. A plan would be good, too. Short goals that can be reached and built upon. In your school, everyone should know what is going on and where you're going. Start with one subject. Once they are fully attentive and focused with that subject, pull in the next one. And you know this one - short and varied lessons.

Can I share a story here? One of my sons at the university doesn't take notes (for the most part). Even those in Mason circles give me sidelong glances when I tell them this. But if you've paid attention and narrated for most of your life, you continue to learn that way when you leave home. At one point, he was happy to find a study group that got together and just talked over what they learned in class. That's it. Then I found this quote by Essex Cholmondley, talking about her college training at Ambleside:

"All the methods of study in college helped to form the habit of attention. No notes were taken at lectures. Instead time was given immediately after the lecturer had left the room in which to write a report. These reports were expected to be short, clear and to the point, covering the whole matter of the lecture."

-The Story of Charlotte Mason, p. 150

Sounds like written narrations to me! Everything they did was helping them grow that habit of attention, even in college.

I hope you can find something to use in this rambling post, Stephanie.

And just for you, here's a quote from Ann Voskamp -

"When I fully enter time's swift current, enter into the current moment with the weight of all my attention, I slow the torrent with the weight of me all here." - One Thousand Gifts

Admiration, Hope and Love,

Nancy

me writing to you

Occupy Notebooks - Join the Revolution!

2012-01-08T15:18:00.000-08:00

"Winter Child" lined writing journal by Paperblanks
(image courtesy of celerystreet)

Lately, I have begun to think of my commonplace book as a form of collecting; in my case, collecting ideas as well as clever or provocative expressions that stand apart from ordinary discourse and are, for that reason worth preserving...Collecting ideas also has a number of distinct advantages compared to collecting most other objects - they cost next to nothing, they are easy to find, do not clutter up your closet and don't require periodic repair or maintenance. - Richard Katzev

You just never know who you will meet or where you might go with a blog. A former Professor of Psychology at Reed College who is a commonplace book expert and I have been having a delightful conversation about commonplacing. Richard Katzev from Marks in the Margin has enthusiastically encouraged me and others to keep writing and talking about commonplace books. He suggested we start a grassroots movement and call it "Occupy Notebooks". I like his sense of humor!

Richard has written a book, A Commonplace Book Primer. If you are interested in learning more about the practice of commonplacing or want to read about his research or even snag some great quotes and book recommendations, you will enjoy this primer. I did. At the very least, visit his blog and click on "commonplace books" under the "topics" section for plenty of good reads on the subject.

Admiration, Hope and Love,

Nancy

Silva Rerum - Commonplacing as a Habit

2011-12-30T14:59:00.000-08:00

Some commonplace books from our household

Silva rerum is Latin for "forest of things", a synonym from the 17th century for a commonplace book. A forest of things really does sum up what types of entries you might find in one of these journals. Commonplacing, or the act of keeping a commonplace book, is a worthwhile and vibrant activity for any reader. Think of the precious record you would have of your intellectual, emotional, and spiritual history. Think of how future generations might be blessed!

It is very helpful to read with a commonplace book or reading-diary, in which to put down any striking thought in your author, or your own impression of the work, or of any part of it; but not summaries of facts. Such a diary, carefully kept through life, should be exceedingly interesting as containing the intellectual history of the writer; besides, we never forget the book that we have made extracts from, and of which we have taken the trouble to write a short review. -Mason, Vol. 5 p. 260

For the new year, why not resolve to keep a commonplace book? Once you begin the habit, you can easily see the benefits. This type of book has been around for centuries but the name can be misleading for what you write in it is far from common. You write in it what you find striking, interesting, important, or intriguing. Plus, if you start now, your younger children will see this modeled and be more likely to find it a natural practice.

Charlotte Mason had students keeping their own commonplace books by around age 13. Here we have another living journal which keeps the education alive. (We have employed a method for younger children that helps to scaffold the formal commonplace book - I'll tell you about that next time!)

I previously mentioned that Christina Rossetti (1820-1894) is our poet this term. In Georgina Battiscombe's adequate biography, Christina Rossetti - A Divided Life I learned, much to my delight, that Christina's mother, Frances, was once a governess and "kept a commonplace book for the benefit of her pupils...She continued the practice with her own children. The first extract in Christina's hand, written when she was about thirteen, is George Herbert's poem 'Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright' ".

Can you imagine possessing such a keepsake as your grandparents' or even your parents' journal? Recently, my friend Bobby Jo and her husband Josh were given his great grandfather's commonplace books which were discovered amongst mouse-eaten magazines. One was in English and the other in German. It contained quotes from poetry, algebra problems, a few school lessons and a touching, original poem about the loss of a sibling.

Here are my friend's great grandfather's books.

Most people have heard about Thomas Jefferson's commonplace books. The very readable biography by Clara Ingram Judson describes them nicely. My husband pointed out to me that his hero from a perennial, favorite read-aloud, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, kept a commonplace book. It's how Nathaniel Bowditch learned - reading, then writing, then reviewing what he wrote.

My friend, Laurie, has a blog "In My Notebook" where she records her commonplace and other notebook entries. Stop by there and see how different each entry can be - from the deep and meaningful to the light and humorous.

Do you keep a commonplace book? Do you plan on commonplacing soon?

Admiration, Hope and Love,

Nancy

N.B. - The living journals that I write about will be listed on the right sidebar.

Snow on Snow?

2011-12-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

A snowless Christmas Eve, 2011

Despite the fact that I want to be writing about a winter wonderland and waxing poetic about Ms. Rossetti's bleak masterpiece, I find the ground bare and brown. So I'll just move on to Happy New Year to each and everyone of you! The 13th of January, 2012 will be the 2-year anniversary of Sage Parnassus. I find that hard to believe. It started simply by the encouragement of some friends and that is exactly what keeps me writing. Your comments and personal emails are wonderful and confirm that someone, somewhere is actually reading all this. I also love the suggestions you send about topics you want to see here. They have been jotted down in my Ideas Journal for the blog.

Gillian over at Explorations in Learning has nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you, Gillian, though I'm not sure what it means. Here are the rules:

Thank the award-giver who nominated you and link back to them in your post.
Share 7 random things about yourself.
Nominate 15 blogs you enjoy reading (not happening, I'll just nominate 5)
Inform the bloggers of their nomination.
Add the Versatile Blog Award picture on your blog post.

Random things about me:
1. My maiden name is Ozinga.
2. Growing up, I had a dog named "dog". We couldn't agree on a name.
3. I now have a dog named "Tasha". Can you guess who we named her after?
4. I'm reading Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. More, please.
5. I shook hands with President Reagan. 1984, I think.
6. I really like coffees made by the other members of my family. 2 per day, please.
7. I've never been to Mt. Rushmore. I've tried. Maybe this year?

Here are my five nominees:
1. The Passionate Homeschooler
2. Golden Grasses
3. Homeschooling in a Bilingual Home
4. Little by Little
5. Fisher Academy International Teaching Home

Admiration, Hope and Love,

Nancy

Education for All, and To All a Goodnight

2011-12-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

Here's something fun and a sweet read for anyone involved in a Charlotte Mason community or co-op! This was written by Bobby Jo, our TBG handcraft leader. She gave each family a copy for Christmas. We think she's pretty special. That black crinoline (taffeta?) dress even makes an appearance.
Twas the Morning Before TBG Poem by Bobby Jo

Love All Lovely

2011-12-09T10:52:00.001-08:00

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love Divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,

Love Incarnate, Love Divine;

Worship we our Jesus:

But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,

Love shall be yours and love be mine,

Love to God and all men,

Love for plea and gift and sign.

-Christina Rossetti

So beautiful, this poem by the homeschooled Miss Rossetti. Each morning I read it. She is our poet this term and I've been reading about her and what I think is her fascinating life. I'm on my 3rd biography - interesting how there is nothing written for young people about her, aside from a Rookie Biography. Also interesting to hear what my son's Vic Lit teacher had to say about her work. I am sure I will share more here as we go on, things like the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, commonplace books, broken engagements and breath-stealing poetry. Funny how the current poet quickly becomes my favorite.

We are also stepping outside of normal and learning this CCM song by Jars of Clay. They adapt her words slightly. The kids memorized it instantly, of course. I want you to hear the catchy music, but I think the video is a bit dippy. Pink giraffe-like unicorns? Really? The weightiness and beauty of the verse seems mismatched with the visual. What do you think?

"Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

Admiration, Hope and Love,

Nancy

Full Hearts

2011-12-05T16:51:00.001-08:00

But it takes the presence of children to help us to realise the idea of the Eternal Child. The Dayspring is with the children, and we think their thoughts and are glad in their joy; and every mother knows out of her own heart's fulness what the Birth at Bethlehem means. - Charlotte Mason

They are so joyful right now. We decorated yesterday and they were so excited to put up their nativity sets and trim the tree. Today a pair walked down to Loopy's on the square to buy gifts. Everything is hurriedly wrapped and proudly placed under the tree. And I love the questions about how we will navigate Christmas Day this year, as it falls on a Sunday. This is good, they affirm, but then quietly ask when exactly will we open gifts?

May I share a few favorite reads with you? For myself, I am enjoying Watch for the Light - Readings for Advent and Christmas. Each reading stands alone and is rich and full. Packed with stupendous authors such as Kathleen Norris, Henri Nouwen, Madeleine L'Engle, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Annie Dillard, C.S. Lewis, John Donne and many more.

Elizabeth Yates warms hearts with On That Night, a Christmas parable. It's a small book involving six people - a little girl, a thief, a harried woman, a jobless young man, a bride now a widow, and a blind man. It's written around the legend that on Christmas Eve, lost things are found. I do so enjoy her writings!

And this one surprised me. Corrie ten Boom's four-chapter Corrie's Christmas Memories. I thought it would be the usual, pull-from-all-her-works memoir on Christmas, but no, this is special. I read it after our Scripture reading each day. Chapter 1 is Corrie's retelling of the Christmas story. Chapter 2 is the original "Father Martin" story (Martin the Cobbler) and includes the story of an apology to the author, Ruben Saillenn, from Leo Tolstoy who admitted taking it, adapting it and being wrongly credited for it! Chapter 3 is Father ten Boom's Christmas message to a Sunday School class when he was 18 and discovered by Corrie in 1976. Chapter 4 is Corrie's personal memories of Christmas with Betsy and the family. It ends, of course, with Luke 2:1-20.

It must be Christmas because as I did my gathering for this post, I found that Corrie's Christmas Memories is now online for free! How sweet is that? Just click on the book cover above and you can read it right now.

I hope you are enjoying the Advent season.

Admiration, Hope and Love,
Nancy

Longing and Waiting

2011-11-27T17:12:00.001-08:00

Today our guests left. That includes a son, so we are a wee bit sad. But it is also the beginning of Advent. We celebrate the first advent of Jesus and await the next. It's a delight to pull out Maria Trapp's Around the Year with the Trapp Family during this time each year. In 1955, Maria tells this story of when they first arrived in the United States and enjoyed celebrating their first Thanksgiving holiday. But shortly after, they are shopping and become confused when "Silent Night" comes over the loudspeakers. To them, it was the Advent season and "Silent Night" was to be saved and sung beginning on Christmas Eve!

It took several Christmas seasons before we understood the connection between Christmas shopping and "Silent Night" and the other carols blaring from loudspeakers in these pre-Christmas weeks. And even now that we do understand, it still disturbs us greatly. These weeks before Christmas, known as the weeks of Advent, are meant to be spent in expectation and waiting. This is the season for Advent songs - those age-old hymns of longing and waiting; "Silent Night" should be sung for the first time on Christmas Eve. We found that hardly anybody knows any Advent songs." - Maria Augusta Trapp, Around the Year with the Trapp Family, p. 15

Here are the songs she lists for Advent. Our favorite is "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and I've embedded a favorite video of the Franz Family singing it. I think they capture that "longing and waiting". Do you have any favorite Advent songs that your family sings?

-"O Come, O come, Emmanuel"
-"You Heavens, Dew Drop From Above"
-"Drop Your Dew, Ye Clouds of Heaven"
-"O Saviour, Heaven's Portal Rend"
-"Maria Walks Amid the The Thorn"
-"Blessed Mother of the Saviour"

Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel by The Franz Family // Canon 5D Mark II from ColdWater Media on Vimeo.

Admiration, Hope and Love,

Nancy

Time Value

2011-11-09T17:02:00.000-08:00

Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch. - Jane Austen from Mansfield Park

I am always a little uncomfortable when asked what program I use for time management purposes. I have a hard time recommending these tools because I think that people will then try to slavishly follow whatever the recommmended book says - and usually fail. There is something about all of it that seems incompatible with Mason's methods. Maybe the problem is in the spirit of the application??? I'm not sure. Even when I share my schedules, I have to state so many caveats along with them.

Part of the reason for my uneasiness is that Mason is on to something deeper and more important. She deals with time in a different light. This starts to be apparent after studying her philosophy and trying to live it out in our homes. I'm slowly getting better at this - figuring out this gift of time and how to spend it here and now for Eternity. Just read this wonderful quote on time written by a student at Charlotte Mason's teaching college at Scale How in 1918.

At Scale How time was to be respected, given to the thing or person claiming it rightfully. Then there would always be time, without over-pressure or distraction. This sense of time value was hard to achieve but it bore the test of experience during the two years' training. What an effort of faith it all was...it did not seem possible to find a moment for everything, yet if no time was wasted there was plenty of it and no hurry. - Cholmondley, p. 150

Time was to be respected...given to the thing or person claiming it rightfully...effort of faith...plenty of it and no hurry. I know our homes and schools aren't set up like her training college and that we have meals, children, spouses, churches, etc. that are important to us. But Mason talks repeatedly about the key to so much of this - attention. On the part of the teacher as well as the student. Can you see how every person is then respected?

Here is a piece of advice to apply this concept. It's a small thing, but the way I attend and spend the time during this part of lessons says so much to my students.

Mason states "Do not bury yourself in the book while the children are reading aloud. Give your full attention to the reading, then when the time for narration comes receive what they tell you with your whole mind. They will tell it all the better to someone who is listening and who is not consulting a book." To this, Cholmondley adds, "To carry out these two pieces of advice needed great power of attentive reading beforehand and of attentive listening during the lesson."

In other words, we need to be fully present for them. That's more important than keeping a perfect house or schedule.

Admiration, Hope and Love,

Nancy

(Quotes taken from The Story of Charlotte Mason by Essex Cholmondley)

If you want to hear more on this subject, I recommend you listen to Melanie Walker's inspiring talk "On Time".

A Nice Way to Start Off A Monday

2011-11-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

I don't know who nominated me for this award, but thank you very much! Sage Parnassus is listed in the "Best Homeschooling Methods" (#19) category . That's rather cool, isn't it? Since I see quite a few friends over there, it feels like an honor. (Never mind that if you received one nomination, you were entered.) I'm not sure how this works, but if you click on the button above, you can go vote if you are so inclined.

Ignorance is Not Innocence

2011-11-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

pumpkin dh carved

My 21st century literature chops stay honed by talking with friends like Dr. Donna Johnson. Last night she spoke to our PMEU group via Skype about "Youth Fiction - 2011". She keeps up with the newer titles for her Children's Lit class that she instructs at Dakota Wesleyan University. Donna was very positive and when she finds a recently published, well-written book, she says it's like finding a treasure! I'm sure that many of you can relate when I say that we could have talked for many hours on this topic. What's more fun than walking away from a chat with a list of books to hunt down?

We talked about Mason's quote where she says, "...the decisions of life are not simple, and to taboo knowledge is notto secure innocence.We must remember that ignorance is not innocence, and also thatignorance is the parent of insatiable curiosity." True. Wise parents will know when to expose their students to certain things and we must NEVER damage their spirit (Luke 17:2).

It appears that when talking about youth fiction in today's day and age (and many people I know just don't want to go there), there is plenty to avoid entirely. Even the better stories will be rife with broken families, ADHD, the 1960s and other subjects that may be jarring to you, especially if you've only used literature from the 19th century in your school. Then again, maybe not.

porch in fall

On a practical note, Donna shared a few websites that can help you determine the type of contents in a book. If you've ever had a teen walk up to you with book in hand and asking, "Mom, can I read this one?", but you don't have time to read it yourself, these sites may help. The first site is Thriving Family and the second is Common Sense Media. I suppose you might use these like those movie ratings sites for families.

So, while Donna recommended some titles (hold on, I'm getting there!), we acknowledged that over the past 25 years, one would be hard-pressed to find youth fiction titles that we would use in our school. By that I mean titles that we would read, narrate and live with over 12 weeks that are full of moving characters and ideas. Do you know of any? Perhaps I am expecting this genre to be something it is not.

On the other hand, we have read some of these in our free time. Many have been the catalyst for some great discussions. Others I have just simply enjoyed. Or maybe we need to nurture and encourage some young writers in our schools who will grow up to write beautiful, perhaps culture-changing classics.

Here are some of the titles that were recommended. Please read first to see if these are suitable for your child! Do you have any titles to add?

1. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt - one of the few written about the Vietnam-era and a boy's middle school encounter with Shakespeare. Personally, it made me laugh out loud.

2. Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt - again, the 60s, with a back story of Audobon prints, Jane Eyre and dysfunctional families.

3. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick - unique, graphic-novel mix inspired by a real inventor.

4. When Your Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - NYC in 1979, A Wrinkle In Time plays a part.

5. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron - quirky and just what is the "higher power"?

6. The Lightning Thief by Ric Riordan - modern-day Percy get mixed up with the Greek gods in his mythology textbook.

7. Anything But Typical by Nora Baskin - from the point of view of an autistic boy.

Science Narration Journals

2011-10-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive.
- Albert Einstein

When my two oldest, now graduated, entered the middle school years, I handed them a popular science textbook. Up to this point, all we had used were living books for science. They had read, narrated, sketched, labeled, observed, and recorded all sorts of things in addition to spending an awful lot of time outdoors. For whatever reason, I thought it was time we tried this series out. I guess I'm not sure why, as they were interested in many things scientific, curious about the the world around them and able to discuss more laws of nature than I could. In other words, they were doing just fine.

Books dealing with science as with history, say, shouldbe of a literary character, and we should probably be more scientificas a people if we scrapped all the text-books which swell publishers'lists and nearly all the chalk expended so freely on our blackboards. Mason, Vol. 6 p. 218

They glanced through the table of contents and began to remind me that they had already read about this or that topic in such-and-such a book. They weren't stating that they already knew everything there was to know about each topic, but it was clear that this text was going to be redundant for them and could they please move on? Looking back, I see what an important lesson this was for me as I learned to trust Mason's use of living books even more, particularly in the seemingly high-stakes area of science.

I was reminded of this little story when I recently came across some of their decade-old science narration journals. We have continued these with my four at home and I am convinced of their importance. We spend our science time exploring out in nature, sketching in nature notebooks, documenting in My Calendar of Firsts, trying pertinent experiments and reading lots of living science books. These books are narrated by telling back through oral, written and/or drawing narrations.

The pictures with this post are examples of their science journals. After they've completed a reading, they have the option of sketching an entry as their narration. They sketch, add relevant text, then come and explain it to me. This is so fun! My daughter's Blood Saturation/Degrees of Anoxia sketch led to dad sharing some interesting (ahem) stories from flight school. Today, my son's (12) sketch of a sun gear and planet pinion in a differential led him to adding notes from his book on Galileo and the competing ideas of his day on the solar system. You just never know what will be important to them or the connections they will end up making.

This scientificattitude of mind should fit us to behave ourselves quietly, thinkjustly, and walk humbly with our God. But we may not confound a glibknowledge of scientific text-books with the patient investigationcarried on by ourselves of some one order of natural objects; and it isthis sort of investigation, in one direction or another, that is duefrom each of us. We can only cover a mere inch of the field of Science,it is true; but the attitude of mind we get in our own little bit ofwork helps us to the understanding of what is being done elsewhere, andwe no longer conduct ourselves in this world of wonders like a gapingrustic at a fair. -Mason, Vol. 4 p. 101

A wonderful blog post about Mason and high school science is Getting Ready for High School Science: Wonder and Order by Beth Pinckney.

Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Admiration, Hope and Love,

Nancy

Walnuts Plumping

2011-10-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

"Harvest Home" is from one of my favorite poetry books, The Year Around.

I read this to the children recently. They were delighted with "And walnuts plumping fast and faster". Do you know what that is referring to?

Harvest Home

The maples flare among the spruces,
The bursting foxgrape spills its juices,
The gentians lift their sapphire fringes
On roadways rich with golden tinges,
The waddling woodchucks fill their hampers,
The deer mouse runs, the chipmunk scampers,
The squirrels scurry, never stopping,
For all they hear is apples dropping
And walnuts plumping fast and faster;
The bee weighs down the purple aster-
Yes, hive your honey, little hummer,
The woods are waving, "Farewell Summer."

-- Arthur Guiterman --

This next book is one that I thought was for just for me. However, LizzieBee presented me with a golden leaf, pronounced it a bookmark, and made me promise to read this book only with her. Funny girl. A perfect anthology, as I'm a seasons gal.

Autumn, edited by Gary Schmidt

I will someday write an entire post on Edna Miller's Mousekin Series. (I told you I loved books about mice!) Perfect for fall, this warm book (and series) gently teaches about the life of a whitefoot mouse with lots of nature lore throughout. I love the illustrations.

Mousekin's Golden House, story and pictures by Edna Miller

There, is that enough autumn goodness for you? Here is a link to my favorite autumn painting, Autumn Leaves by Millais.

Tools for Writing

2011-10-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

Get thy tools ready,

God will find the work.

-Browning

Young Girl Writing A Letter by Jonathan Janson

She has this little obsession about the Library of Alexandria. She's ordered a few books on it from the library and had me print out the Wikipedia article on it so she could scribble her notes all over it. Now she's asking if "Octavius" or "Andrew" might be names of children who lived during that time. LizzieBee (dd10) wants to write a book someday, but she's not in a hurry. I think it's this living, this freedom, this lack of urgency that helps nurture the slow process. Her tools are ready.

I like books about writing. I've read a quite a few and just knowing that there are many, many more out there makes me happy. Today I'm going to talk about two favorites, one new (for me) and one old (for my daughter).

Rumors of Water - thoughts on creativity and writing is l.l. barkat's latest offering. I knew I would like it as I enjoyed her spiritual memoir, Stone Crossings. The chapters are short and sweet, each taking a personal experience and segueing into a single point about writing. The fact that these stories revolve around her daughters and their lives, which includes homeschooling, makes it all the more interesting to me. Lots of real life and natural advice for the writer in everyone, whether they want to write a book or a blog post.

The next book I want to recommend is one I recently gave to my LizzieBee. Someday You'll Write by Elizabeth Yates is such a gem for aspiring young writers. (Note the typewriter on the cover of this 1962 book.) Just practical tips about how a writer might write a book - namely by paying attention and observing all of life, all the time. My children's days are already full of writing: written narrations, journal entries, lists, labels, scraps of story beginnings, etc. This book lets the student see how one wonderful author begins the process of writing a book. Her advice is perfectly compatible to our way of educating and living. I'll finish with these words of advice from Yates:

Your experience is your own-ness; it is also your one-ness with the rest of mankind. Words are the bridge for the writer. With them one heart reaches to another, one mind is quickened by another, across the span of the centuries or the miles or the little lonelinesses of life.

Young Girl Writing an Email by Jonathan Janson

My Calendar of Firsts

2011-10-05T04:33:00.000-07:00

It is a capital plan for the children to keep acalendar––the first oak-leaf, the first tadpole, the first cowslip, thefirst catkin, the first ripe blackberries, where seen, and when. Thenext year they will know when and where to look out for theirfavourites, and will, every year, be in a condition to add newobservations. Think of the zest and interest, the object, whichsuch a practice will give to daily walks and little excursions. Mason, Vol. 1 p. 54

And so, as we seek to implement more and more of an authentic, winsome, and relational education in our homeschool, we have now added a calendar of firsts! We will use this in addition to our nature journals. Previously, many of these items were recorded in our nature journals, but now that I understand the value of a book set up in this fashion, we will be adding this form of vitality to our school.

My Calendar of Firsts was designed by the teachers at Red Mountain Community School. They collaborated with a local business, Night Owl Paper Goods, and developed this eco-chic, wooden journal. It comes in a muslin bag for carrying, but even the bag could be used for a sampler or even a holder of found nature treasures.

Our vision was small. . .we just wanted a beautiful calendar to put in our student's hands. The calendar of firsts is such a lovely addition to a nature notebook. In fact, I think that it might be an easier starting point for new Mason students. It begins with observation and a simple entry. But for those of us already using a nature notebook, it is a simple addition to a daily or weekly habit. - Mandy Deter, teacher at Red Mountain Community School

Night Owl Paper Goods

It is a simple, perpetual calendar and in the past I may have just tried to cobble something together myself from a template. But I couldn't put something as nice as this together on my own. There is something to be said for a keepsake book that the children take special care of and make entries with enthusiasm. As my husband said, "A beautiful journal begets thoughtful entries." (He really did say that. Just now.)

Each page in My Calendar of Firsts has two columns. Each column represents a day of the month which the child will enter before he begins. Then, when a first is observed it is recorded on that day with a mention of the year that it occurred and perhaps the location. So eventually, the child may notice that the crocus first breaks through the snow during the same week, year after year. He will then eagerly anticipate the event because he knows.

This is the beginning of teaching our children science in a very different way. The observation and recording of the first snowfall, the first robin, the first morning glory or the first red leaf will pave the way for all future scientific studies by making it real, alive and something that each child, even the youngest child, will "own" and apply to their future encounters with all scientific inquiries.

To know a plantby its gesture and habitat, its time and its way of flowering andfruiting; a bird by its flight and song and its times of coming andgoing; to know when, year after year, you may come upon the redstartand the pied fly-catcher, means a good deal of interested observation,and of, at any rate, the material for science. -Mason, Vol. 3 p. 236

Here is the ordering information for My Calendar of Firsts -

Contact Elizabeth Jones at Red Mountain Community School. Price is $40.00 which includes shipping and handling. (Tell them Nancy from Sage Parnassus sent you!)

Sidewalk Chalk Art

2011-09-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

The Holy Family Doni Tondo by Michelangelo 1506

For Picture Study this term, we are looking at the works of Michelangelo. This is one of the subjects that we do in our TBG Community, and Heidi is our picture study maven. She does an amazing job and I wish you could visit when she is teaching. I don't think she had much experience with art before she began homeschooling, but no matter. One of the important things we do before each term at our planning meetings is discuss how the subject is going and compare this to what Charlotte Mason says about it. It keeps everyone learning and growing. (See the post - When Adults Love to Learn: Flowing Streams or Stagnant Pools for more on this.) Lest you think our picture study is full of bells, whistles, activities, and lectures, think again. Heidi has this so fine- tuned that the children eagerly await whatever she may have to say (which is living, but minimal) and cannot wait to see what that week's print will be. After that, the work is all on the children's part - observing, studying, retelling.

Do you see the chalk drawings? They took my breath away. (Homeschool moms will get this.) It started with the study of the Doni Tondo a few weeks ago. Then, this past week we did The Creation of Adam. For fun, Heidi sent the children this video to enjoy - Sidewalk Chalk Michelangelo. (A.maz.ing.) Next thing I know, I have little girls running in the house and telling me that I MUST NOT come outside until I have their clearance. Hmmmm. By supper time, I was escorted out to see their surprise for me.


Can you tell what this is? Complete with the cracks!

I hugged the girls and we took some pictures. LizzieBee (dd10) explained what some of the difficulties and challenges were. The Sistine Chapel may have been a curved ceiling, but rough concrete sidewalks aren't exactly a piece of cake. It's so hard to get details with super-chunky sticks and with only pastels to work with and...you get the idea.

Tonight I think I'll share with them my vast knowledge of sidewalk chalk art which is presented in the following video. I think they'll enjoy this. (Here's the link, in case you can't see the video - The Pavement Artist.)

Pilgrim's Progress

2011-09-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

Prior to homeschooling my progenies, my only experience with John Bunyan's classic, Pilgrim's Progress, was a tedious youth group experience in which we were to read the story and fill out workbook pages. We endured this because, well, we wanted to get to the broomball game. Sad, isn't it? It certainly didn't bring the following objective about -

Any child brought up on, say, the Bible, Robinson Crusoeor Pilgrim's Progress has an education which must form his mind in sucha way that when the time comes for the exercise of independent choicein the matter of study, he will naturally be ready to see and love whatis good and noble in this world. -G.L.F., Parents' Review, "Children's Books"

Then again, neither would a tiresome academic analysis on the use of allegory and metaphor in the story. Which, by the way, could take a few years. Pilgrim's Progress should be read and enjoyed. It should stir the imagination of the reader now and in the future, providing such rich pictures and ideas that one may play out in the backyard or find comfort during a personal struggle.

In our Family Sunday School, we are reading through this classic for a second time, the first time being about 8 years ago. When LizzieBee heard what we were going to be reading, she said, "Oh, good. Mei Fuh loved Pilgrim's Progress when she was a little girl, too!" Mei Fuh: Memories from China is Edith Schaeffer's memoir of the first five years of her life which were spent in China. It has a chapter on how Mei Fuh adored Pilgrim's Progress and how she and her sister would fill up a pillowcase with things and drag it to the top of the stairs and then deliciously let the "burden" tumble down.

At our last class, Karla shared with us this fitting passage from Little Women.

     Mrs. March broke the silence that followed Jo's words, by saying in hercheery voice, "Do you remember how you used to play Pilgrims Progresswhen you were little things? Nothing delighted you more than to haveme tie my piece bags on your backs for burdens, give you hats andsticks and rolls of paper, and let you travel through the house fromthe cellar, which was the City of Destruction, up, up, to the housetop,where you had all the lovely things you could collect to make aCelestial City."
     "What fun it was, especially going by the lions, fighting Apollyon, andpassing through the valley where the hob-goblins were," said Jo.
     "I liked the place where the bundles fell off and tumbled downstairs,"said Meg.
     "I don't remember much about it, except that I was afraid of the cellarand the dark entry, and always liked the cake and milk we had up at thetop. If I wasn't too old for such things, I'd rather like to play itover again," said Amy, who began to talk of renouncing childish thingsat the mature age of twelve.
     "We never are too old for this, my dear, because it is a play we areplaying all the time in one way or another. Our burdens are here, ourroad is before us, and the longing for goodness and happiness is theguide that leads us through many troubles and mistakes to the peacewhich is a true Celestial City. Now, my little pilgrims, suppose youbegin again, not in play, but in earnest, and see how far on you canget before Father comes home."

Have you noticed all the Pilgrim's Progress products that are out there now? Videos, games, maps, workbooks, dolls, et al. The wonderful thing about a living book is that all you need is the words and a mind that those words can work in. In our case, this time we are all listening to an audio (not dramatized) and narrating as we go. Simple. The reader has a lovely British accent. And yes, she pronounces the Slough of Despond as "slou" - rhymes with "plow".

And along the "keeping it simple" vein, I found this lesson plan for Pilgrim's Progress in an old Parents' Review .

Introduction. Recapitulation of last lesson.
Step I.
Read from The Pilgrim's Progress paragraph relating whathappens in the morning following Christiana's dream.
Step II.
Narration.
Step III.
Continue reading paragraphs relating that Secret tellsChristiana that Christian and his companions will be glad when she andher children enter into their Father's threshold. Also of Christiana'ssadness, and of the letter Secret has brought for her.
Step IV.
Narration.
Step V.
Read about Secret's reply to Christiana and the instructions hegives her as regards reading the letter.
Step VI.
Narration.

Notice the lack of embellishments, the simplicity of the lesson and where the effort lies. Mason said that "Life is sustained on that which is taken in...not by that which is applied from without." (Vol. 6 p. 24)

Now didn't that post just end up in a different place than where it started?

Of Memes and Things

2011-09-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here is part of the sisters' nature table which greets visitors at the side door.

So, my friend from New Zealand, Rachael, tagged me for this homeschool meme. "Meme" is an interesting word that I rarely hear in everyday conversation. Here is a slideshow and an article for further reading, if you are so inclined.

Ten Unforgettable Web Memes
(How many are you familiar with? This is interesting!)

What Defines a Meme?
(Here we find out that Richard Dawkins coined the word in 1976.)

On with the questions!

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed -

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

2. One resource you wouldn't be without -

One? Come on, I can't do that!

First would be the canvas tote that holds my morning readings. (Gratefulness Journal, Bible, Pen, A Diary of Prayer by Goudge, Scale How Meditations by Mason, Edges of His Ways by Carmichael and yes, Our Daily Bread)

Second would have to be Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series (6 volume set).

3. One resource you wish you had never bought -

About 10 years ago, I bought a Switched-On Schoolhouse - Minnesota History course. The contrast in method was so jarring to us, it was quickly returned. Besides, I have since found some wonderful living books for our Minnesota history.

4. One resource you enjoyed last year -

I enjoyed my ipad. It has enhanced some of our schooling while cuddled up on the couch. Have you seen Victoria Falls at Google Earth? Quick - how do we pronounce Couperin? My collection of 225 Yesterday's Classics titles is rather delicious, too.

5. One resource you will be using next year -

Well, I hope to dig in deeper at the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection. The upper level exam examples are, IMHO, breathtaking.

6. One resource you would like to buy -

I would like to buy a camper - does that count?

7. One resource you wish existed -

I have wished this resource existed and know now that it will exist very soon! It's taken up much of my time over the past year. Here's a blurb about it -

Non-profit ChildLightUSA Developing New Mason Curriculum
Dedicated to recovering and promoting Charlotte Mason's educational theories and practices, ChildLightUSA is developing a curriculum meticulously modeled after what Mason describes in her six volumes. A seven-member Design Team is changing the current paradigm of education, collaborating on a rich, modern and flexible K-12 Mason curriculum. This new curriculum will feature Mason distinctives such as 18 subjects per grade level for use in various educational venues including public, charter, private and web-based learning communities. The projected release date is fall of 2012.

8. One homeschool catalog you enjoy reading -

Honestly, I don't read any. At least not in the past 5 years or so. Is that weird?

9. One homeschool website you use regularly -

That's easy - Ambleside Online. I mainly use it because of the wonderful search engine. It is so helpful for any research and writing.

10. Tag six other homeschoolers -

Glory
Bonnie
Bobby Jo
Tammy
Laurel
Chris

Singing is to the Song Thrush as Narration is to the Child

2011-09-12T05:23:00.000-07:00

Nowthis art of telling back is Education and is very enriching.

(Mason, 1925/1989, p. 292)

My frazzled friend wrote to me with the followingquery, "With all the different levels and subjects of my children, are mydays going to consist only of narration?" So I wrote back, "Well, to a greatextent, yes! That is, if you want yourchildren to be truly educated." Whilemy concerned friend had a dreary vision of children standing in line to retellstories to her all day long, I think she has an incomplete view of what Masonso stylishly calls "The Art of Knowing" (1925/1989, p. 292).

First, we all know that if you can't tell it back,you don't really know it. "Whatevera child or grown-up person can tell, that we may be sure he knows, and what hecannot tell, he does not know" (Mason, 1925/1989, p. 172).

Next, there is more than one way to narrate. While oral and written narrations may be theprimary methods, retelling may also be in the form of drawing, demonstrating,explaining, painting, acting, building, etc. These stand in stark contrast to the monotony of worksheets,comprehension quizzes and multiple choice tests.

Finally, we need to remember that for most children,narration is a natural process that is innate. Mason (1925/1989) tells us that narration "is as agreeable andnatural to the average child or man as singing is to the song thrush, that 'toknow' is indeed a natural function"(p. 292). I read that the song thrush's tune is, likenarration, a repetition, and that it is the favorite songbird of many peoplewith its strong clarity and flute-like tones. Robert Browning's lovely lines from "HomeThoughts, from Abroad" echo this.

That'sthe wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!

Narration is so very important and is in a sense,education itself. Once you look into whyit is used and what it actually does, you begin to understand Mason's relianceon it. Perhaps if my friend can thinkabout the joyous melody of the song thrush when her children narrate, she willbe reminded of the importance of this fine "Art of Knowing".

*****************************************************

(For further, in-depth look at narration, pleaseread this article by Dr. Carroll Smith - IntroducingCharlotte Mason's Use of Narration.)

Resources

Mason, C. M. (1989). Aphilosophy of education. Wheaton IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (Original work published in1925).

This post was originally published at the ChildLightUSA blog.

Telling the Bees by a Fighting Quaker - Plus a Book Recommendation!

2011-09-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

We are reading the nostalgic, descriptive poetry of the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier this term. Greenleaf (which is what he went by) was raised on a simple Massachusetts farm and often reminisced in his poetry about farm life. I am taken by his poem, "Telling the Bees", and am curious as to whether any of you are familiar with this tradition. (Please leave a note!) Here is how Greenleaf describes the practice:

A remarkable custom, brought from the Old Country, formerly prevailed in the rural districts of New England. On the death of a member of the family, the bees were at once informed of the event, and their hives dressed in mourning. This ceremonial was supposed to be necessary to prevent the swarms from leaving their hives and seeking a new home.

Telling the Bees
by John Greenleaf Whittier

Here is the place; right over the hill
Runs the path I took;
You can see the gap in the old wall still,
And the stepping-stones in the shallow brook.

There is the house, with the gate red-barred,
And the poplars tall;
And the barn's brown length, and the cattle-yard,
And the white horns tossing above the wall.

There are the beehives ranged in the sun;
And down by the brink
Of the brook are her poor flowers, weed-o'errun,
Pansy and daffodil, rose and pink.

A year has gone, as the tortoise goes,
Heavy and slow;
And the same rose blooms, and the same sun glows,
And the same brook sings of a year ago.

There's the same sweet clover-smell in the breeze;
And the June sun warm
Tangles his wings of fire in the trees,
Setting, as then, over Fernside farm.

I mind me how with a lover's care
From my Sunday coat
I brushed off the burrs, and smoothed my hair,
And cooled at the brookside my brow and
throat.

Since we parted, a month had passed,--
To love, a year;
Down through the beeches I looked at last
On the little red gate and the well-sweep near.

I can see it all now,--the slantwise rain
Of light through the leaves,
The sundown's blaze on her window-pane,
The bloom of her roses under the eaves.

Just the same as a month before,--
The house and the trees,
The barn's brown gable, the vine by the door,--
Nothing changed but the hives of bees.

Before them, under the garden wall,
Forward and back,
Went drearily singing the chore-girl small,
Draping each hive with a shred of black.

Trembling, I listened: the summer sun
Had the chill of snow;
For I knew she was telling the bees of one
Gone on the journey we all must go.

Then I said to myself, "My Mary weeps
For the dead to-day;
Haply her blind old grandsire sleeps
The fret and the pain of his age away."

But her dog whined low; on the doorway sill,
With his cane to his chin,
The old man sat; and the chore-girl still
Sung to the bees stealing out and in.

And the song she was singing ever since
In my ear sounds on:--
"Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence!
Mistress Mary is dead and gone!"

Here is another poet, Deborah Digges, reading her poem by the same name. Listen to the audio!

Telling the Bees

I have found the most delightful living book to accompany our enjoyment of Greenleaf's poetry. The narrations that the students give are excellent and the story gives such nice background to the poems we are reading. I highly recommend John Greenleaf Whittier - Fighting Quaker by Ruth Langland Holberg

Community, not Co-op

2011-08-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

Our Charlotte Mason community - Truth, Beauty, Goodness - had its first meeting of the new school year. Notice I said "community" and not "co-op". That's because the term "co-op" generally connotates a bunch of images that I don't want associated with our group. Things like harried children, joyless moms, isolated subjects, segregated children, various methods and the like. Instead, we strive for relationships with each of the students, joyful learning, attention as a habit, interested students, clear methods and a unifying philosophy.* Our community is a servant to our homeschools, not a master. Since each family involved is trying to implement the Mason philosophy at home, it ends up working beautifully.

We call ourselves Truth, Beauty, Goodness for a reason - Phillippians 4:8. "If we give our admiration, our faith, to 'whatsoever things are lovely and of good report,' if we 'think on these things,' and not on things unworthy, which we are free to depreciate, we shall be in a fair way to fix 'well and wisely' the admiration of the young people," says Mason.

Our handicraft this week was using decoupage to make Enquire Within books!

May I suggestthe great use and value of a household book, in which the younghousekeeper notes down exactly how to do everything, from the scouringof a floor to the making of an omelet, either as she has done itherself, or has watched it being done, with the little special wrinklesthat every household gathers. Such an "Enquire Within" should beinvaluable hereafter, as containing personal experiences...Vol. 5, p. 259

I haven't been around this craft technique since I watched my mother gabbing with a bunch of other moms at Mrs. Kostecka's table sometime in the 70s. I recall lots of Holly Hobby pictures on plaster of Paris wall hangings. Read how we went about it at our handicraft teacher's blog - Where the Blacktop Ends.

In the burdock den - girls doing nature study

A Burdock—clawed my Gown—
Not Burdock's—blame—
But mine—
Who went too near
The Burdock's Den—

-Emily Dickinson

We have tweaked the schedule and it appears to work very well. Look under "The Schedule" at this link for the updated schedule.

So much more to tell about! I'll save more for later posts. I am thankful that this is how our first week of school ended.

* (Please, I know there are wonderful co-ops out there - we are, however, purposefully operating against the negative stereotypes.)

The Rule of Every Homeschool

2011-08-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Cheney running on the prairie at Blue Mounds State park

This post is peppered with pictures from some travels around SW MN a few weeks ago.

In that article that I mentioned in my last post, there's Miss Mason talking directly to the homeschool mother. Time to listen! She tells us what she thinks should be the rule of every homeschool. What did she say?

-brisk work and ample leisure and freedom should be the norm

-work not done in its own time should be left undone

-five of the thirteen waking hours should be at the disposal of the children (three of these should be spent out-of-doors in all but very bad weather)

What do you think? Do you follow these rules in your homeschool?


So, this is LittleJack carrying his childhood teddy bear, Herman the German, up to meet his namesake.


Herman the German statue in New Ulm, MN - Herman made it to the top (but two of my kiddos didn't!)

Interesting visit to the house of Wanda Gag who wrote Millions of Cats (local artist for picture study!)

Marit, me and Kaley

Avoid the Grooves - Shift That Paradigm

2011-08-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

hydrangeas and phlox

*This post reflects some of the highlights of an encouragement talk that I just gave to a lovely Charlotte Mason support group in Cincinnati, Ohio via Skype.

Time for fall planning! Time to put together the school schedule! New books, new routines, and hopefully no new grooves. Let me explain. By grooves, I mean a stagnant, settled routine. Unfortunately, often the claim of "experience" can set us firmly in a groove. Mason speaks of experience as not necessarily a qualification for being a great teacher. She claims that one year of training in her methods is worth ten years of experience elsewhere for the making of a good teacher.

It is ... disastrous when child or man learns to think in a groove, and shivers like an unaccustomed bather on the steps of a new notion. Vol. 6 p. 104

"Experience" meaning the habit of doing things as we have always done them. "Set us going in a groove and there is no further question of right or wrong, of better or worse; we do the thing 'in our own way,' and years of experience make us 'the same, only more so.' "

furry acorns!

So in some cases, that lack of experience can be a great boon to those new to the method. I know some twenty-something moms who have decided to pursue this philosophy. Their lack of experience-baggage and the fact that they haven't wallowed in the homeschool methods and curriculum mania gives them an advantage, I think. They are diving in to her works with a freshness and excitement that their children will benefit from. The paradigm shift is moving along quickly and more easily for them.

There are instances where experience is, of course, a good thing. It has to do with keeping that "fresh impulse." Mason says, "experience added to training has its advantages, supposing we are able to keep the fresh impulse of our training through the years."

Keeping fresh impulses, avoiding grooves, and shifting paradigms. How will you accomplish these things this year?

(Quotes by Mason taken from "The Home School," Parents' Review, Vol. 3 1892-1893 p. 279-284)

A Favorite C.S. Lewis Book

2011-08-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

Cheney having a summer read. She still fits on the sill.

Looking for a short, interesting and inspiring summer read? Here is a favorite of mine. It is a collection of letters that C.S. Lewis wrote to his younger fans. You'll feel like he's writing to you. He even explains how to pronounce Aslan's name and in what order he prefers the Narnia books to be read.

A few favorite lines -

"You draw donkeys better than Pauline Baynes does."

"Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean 'More people died' don't say 'Mortality rose.' "

And this one I especially like -

"Why do I not care for Plutarch, I wonder? I've tried him many times, but I somehow don't get on."

Sursum Corda,

Nancy

"Degrees of Separation" or "Your Child's Future Sanity"

2011-07-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

So I asked the group of adults sitting around the table, "What odors or sensations evoke strong, positive memories from years ago?" Silence. On my part, too. I've been thinking for some time now about a tremendous gap in my education. It's a gap that many adults I know have, too. I hope to avoid having my children experience this same gap by way of this Mason education I've offered them. If you will track with me here, I think you will see another life-long benefit to all these things we do - nature study, outdoor time, attentiveness, observation, etc.

Do you read Cook's Illustrated? We are hopelessly addicted to its sumptuousrecipes and excellent writing with a dash of New England charm. Think Taste of Home meets Consumer Reports meets PopularScience. In the July /August 2011issue, Christopher Kimball has another impressive editorial called "ZeroDegrees of Separation".

I pull a Macoun apple off a tree in lateSeptember. It's marred by a smallcrescent of rust and the excavation of a hungry borer, but it snaps under mybite and the juice is sweet but sour, complex, even spicy, unlike any shinyDelicious snatched from a wooden bowl in a hotel lobby. It's not just an apple, it's that apple offthat tree on that day. I stand in thegarden in August and pull a carrot and then a radish by their leafy tops. I rub off the dirt and in the mouth they go,alive and vibrant. Mouthfuls ofraspberries in late June, blueberries in July, Sun Gold tomatoes in August andthen the digging of potatoes before Labor Day - bushel baskets stung out alongthe rows and the warm breath of dirt and roots washing upwards as I dig.

Mmmmmm. He goes on to lament the fact that most Americans, because of a lack of these experiences, have a huge gap between their senses and "the scent of life".

But few have commented on the loss of experience,about the degrees of separation between our noses and the rich scent oflife. Forgive the metaphor, but thesmell of Charlie Bentley's dairy barn in July has been stamped on my brain asif hit by a locomotive, and I wouldn't give up that memory sensation foranything. A whiff of manure...is simplypart of life. If you are reading thiseditorial now and no strong odor memories come flooding back, go out and find adairy barn this weekend, stick your head in, and take a long, deep whiff. It'll do you good.

I was delighted when I came across Charlotte Mason's admonitions on this very subject. She, like Kimball, says that there should be zero degrees of separation between the memory of the senses and the richness of life.

We should fill for children the storehouse of memorywith many open-air images, capable of giving them reflected sensations ofextreme delight. Our constant care mustbe to secure that they do look, and listen, touch, and smell; and the way to this is by sympathetic actionon our part: what we look at they willlook at; the odours we perceive, they,too, will get. Vol. 2 p. 192

The Chancel and Crossing of Tintern Abbey, Looking towards the East Window by J. M. W. Turner, 1794

It gets better. She uses Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey as the backdrop for her discussion. (I rather like Tintern Abbey. Have I mentioned that seeing Tintern Abbey in person is something I will do someday? But I digress.)

'These beauteous forms
Through a long absence, have not been to me
As is a landscape to a blind man's eye;
But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration:--feelings, too,
Of unremembered pleasure;

Wordsworth so beautifully shares with us how his memory of Tintern Abbey - the sensations he experienced many years ago - bring him "tranquil restoration". I was reminded of this young lady, a CM graduate, and how, even at the age of 18, is already looking back and finding some solace in the sensory experiences of her nature studies. She says, "It seems the more stressful life gets, the more I appreciate the beauty I've been taught to see in nature."

Even this article by Andy Thompson about Richard Louv's latest book, The Nature Principle, touches on the importance of tactile, outside experiences and the lack therof in so many adults. Louv is quoted in the article as saying "nature deficit disorder is an atrophied awareness, a diminished ability to find meaning in the life that surrounds us."

Beauty... restoration for the soul...stress relief...meaning in life...zero degrees of separation. Funny how all this somehow relates to being fully human. Get outside. Play and work out there. Seek out a dairy farm. Start thinking about how you educate your children. Who knows - their future happiness and sanity may depend on it.

21 Lattes Later

2011-07-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Please indulge me this one last post about the LER, or rather, about after the LER. Enjoy the slide show.

The Art of Mindfulness

2011-07-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

MINDFULNESS, n. Attention; regard; heedfulness.

-Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary

We began the LER talking about how mindful Miss Mason was- how her attention to children and what is true about education has continued to benefit the children in our care, over 100 years after she penned her tomes.

Fittingly, we ended with this verse:

"Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake . . . The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us. . ." Psalm 115:1, 12 (KJV)

Please enjoy these photos from our rich time together. Maybe we'll see you next year?

Laurie Bestvater, our featured speaker!

Amy (from Peru!) and Richele (from Massachusetts!)

Forms of vitality and other pieces.

Come on in...

This is me, chatting about the paradigm.

Jan, Mandy, Melanie and Tom - sitting in the back ~~pew~~ row.

mothers with daughters


What does it mean to be fully alive?


The joy of making new friends was evident everywhere. husbands and wives


welcome sign

Heidi's creativity

restful location on the prairie

Morning worship with Annie. Breathtaking.

Well-Timed Retreat

2011-07-10T13:16:00.000-07:00


A period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a director.

But Wisdom's triumph is a well-tim'd Retreat,

As hard a science to the Fair as Great!

-Alexander Pope

Living Education Retreat July 15-16, 2011

A Brief Post on a Flip-Flop

2011-07-03T05:38:00.000-07:00

Not this kind of flip-flop! I'm talking about a reversal of a stand or position.

I know I've read these quotes many times before. You probably have, too. But after listening to yet another discussion on the difference between Mason's philosophy and other popular education models at the CLUSA conference, these quotes struck me anew. Look closely!

"Children will readily hang the mere facts upon the idea as upon a peg capable of sustaining all that it is needful to retain." Mason, Vol. 2, p. 277

or THIS one -

"It (the mind) is nourished upon ideas and absorbs facts only as these are connected with the living ideas upon which they hang." Mason, Vol. 6, p. 20

Did you catch that? Mason starts even the youngest child with ideas. She isn't working on getting the facts or rules into the child. This is a flip-flop from what we normally see, hear and do in education. I know that I've been conditioned to think the opposite way; that the pegs are the facts that we make sure the children have in place so that they have context for the ideas when we think they are old enough to understand them.

While an orderly and carefully planned curriculum is a must in a relational education, it isn't about absorbing facts or mastery of rules in every subject, even at the youngest age. It is about living thoughts and ideas, presented in literary form, even at the youngest age. I'd say that's quite the flip-flop.

Emma

2011-06-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

No, this post has nothing to do with Jane Austen. It's about a complicated and inspiring woman who wrote one of America's most famous poems. She never went to school; her father's library was her classroom. At 16, her doting father had a book of her poems published which was over 200 pages long. She died of cancer in 1887 at the age of 38. Her name was Emma Lazarus.

Emma is most famous for her poem "The New Colossus". This poem was written for an auction in order to raise funds to build the pedestal for the new Statue of Liberty. I'm sure you recognize the famous line, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Sadly, she didn't live to see the poem placed at the base of the statue. Nor could she have foreseen how it became inextricably linked to the Mother of Exiles.

She was ahead of her time. As a Jewish-American woman author, she gave a voice to the persecuted Jews in Eastern Europe with her passionate poetry and pleas for help. Her poetry is fascinating to me, albeit difficult as her pre-Zionist ideas and views of her race and religion predominate her writing. That said, I found this wonderfully inspiring children's book on her life which I highly recommend - Liberty's Voice by Erica Silverman. The first lines read, "Emma Lazarus loved to learn. She had a passion for words and a hunger for knowledge." After reading this book, LizzieBee (dd 9) immediately sat down to write a poem she titled "Emma's Colossus".

I am personally reading a book by Esther Schor titled Emma Lazarus which is part of the Jewish Encounters series. Her life intertwined with Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Singer Sargent, Matthew Arnold, William Morris and George Elliot, to name just a few. The book also recounts little-known anti-Semitic events that took place in the U.S. during the late 1870s. A worthwhile radio interview with Schor can be heard here.

Here is the complete poem for you to enjoy!

THE NEW COLOSSUS by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Safely to Arrive at Home

2011-06-12T18:33:00.000-07:00

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

This hymn, which just might be my favorite, turned out to be "the hymn" of the CLUSA conference I just returned from. (I came home to blooming peonies and freshly-washed children, courtesy of Grandma.) It was written by pastor Robert Robinson when he was only 23 in 1758. The beautiful tune is known as the American folk tune "Nettleton" by pastor Asahel Nettleton of the Second Great Awakening. Here, go ahead and click "play" so you can listen while you read the rest of the post.

I can't sing it without being moved to tears. I have memories of looking up at my late father while he was singing this in the Baptist church I grew up in. He'd close his eyes while singing with the bright red hymn book open in his hands. As a child, I wasn't quite sure why he did this. I get it now.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

I taught a multi-age homeschool immersion group on Thursday morning over the course of three hours and this hymn was the last thing we did. We talked about the line, "Here I raise my Ebenezer" which comes from 1 Samuel 7:12. Ebenezer is Hebrew for "stone of help". One of the attendees mentioned that she knew a little boy by the name of Ebenezer. I love that!

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Our group sang along with Chris Rice's recording of the song. They sang with more emotion than the usual church crowd, I thought. It was a powerful ending to a wonderful morning of concentration and ideas. I don't know about everyone else, but I was blessed beyond words.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

In the evening as we settled in our seats to listen to a concert by Janet Pressley, I couldn't believe that she opened her set with her guitar and this hymn! It was a confirming end to a long and rich day. Another favorite version for me is by Sufjan Stevens. The version we sang in the immersion group was by Chris Rice.

Here's a treat my daughter, Marit, put together when she was 12. Our co-op, TBG, was learning this hymn for the term. On the Family Night at the end of the term, she surprised everyone with this slide show of a co-op meeting with the Chris Rice version as the background music.

To all of you who attended that immersion session, I'd like to say, "Thank you". Your bright eyes and enthusiasm confirmed a few things in my own heart.

Cooperating and Conferences

2011-05-29T16:31:00.000-07:00


Flowers blooming this week - finally!

All our teaching of children should be given reverently, with the humble sense that we are invited in the matter to co-operate with the Holy Spirit. -Mason, Vol. 2 p. 48

I love this reminder from Mason. In all of my busyness this week, in all of the joy and sorrow around me, God's presence has been clear. This one thing has been on my mind. Mason's quote reminds me where it all comes from and affects so much of what I say and do. When it comes to teaching my precious children, knowing that the Holy Spirit does the work is a humbling and joyful thought.


So very fragrant lily of the valley - Convallaria majalis

In a little over a week, I fly to NC for the ChildLight USA conference Bonnie has written a great post and reflects my sentiments about why it's a great place to be. Are you going? Leave me a note in the comments if you are - I look forward to meeting and seeing friends, old and new. I will be sharing a few times. First, I am presenting with Sandy and Tammy in "CM Foundations: A Paradigm Shift". This should be a great beginning session for those new to the conference and the Mason method.


bleeding hearts - Lamprocapnos spectabilis

Second - and I'm really excited about this one - I will be leading a three-hour immersion group simulating our multi-age homeschool. Apart from inviting you into my home and having you watch one of our school days, this will be the closest thing to showing you "this is how we do it".

lilacs - Syringa

Thirdly is my talk on Mason and citizenship. Find out why a) Plutarch is so important and then b) why citizenship in a Mason education is so much more than Plutarch! I believe there's a fireside chat included in there as well as mealtimes. I've met so many kindred spirits that have enriched my life just by chatting with the stranger next to me at a meal.

Enjoy the flower photos! These were all taken this past week in our yard. Spring has sprung!

Basket Weaving Mouse

2011-05-18T11:42:00.000-07:00


A Nest for Celeste - A Story about Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home by Henry Cole

I just finished reading this charming book to Cheney (dd 7) and wanted to recommend it to you. It has a lot going for it. To begin with, it's about a mouse. ( I love children's books about mice - more to come!) It's also this funky, chunky size that feels like you're reading a serious tome. (How it feels in your hands is important - right?) Not only that, but Celeste is a basket weaving mouse - an artist.

It's based around a real visit John James Audobon made to New Orleans in 1821. Celeste befriends Audobon's apprentice, Joseph, and together they have all sorts of adventures, much of it having to do with Audobon's painting and drawing practices. Most importantly, though, was that it kept Cheney thinking. After we finished our requisite 2-chapters-before-bed reading, if I waited a few moments, she would always have a question to ask or something to think about. I like that in a book.

Here is a sneak peek for you: A Nest for Celeste preview

Clutch of Postcards

2011-05-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

I have been quite busy lately preparing for the ChildLight USA conference at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC and haven't had much time to write posts. Today, however, I have a new post up over at Educating Mother titled "Clutch of Postcards". Enjoy!

To view that post, click here.

Sursum Corda,
Nancy

Wolf Lake - beaver dam right behind bridge

Cheney on an early morning bird walk at Wolf Lake

A Dedication to Mother

2011-05-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

When Kate Douglas Wiggen wrote the classic, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, she dedicated it in this beautiful manner:

To My Mother

Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;
Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful dawn;
A dancing shape, an image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay.

-from Perfect Woman by Wordsworth

In the first chapter, Rebecca starts talking about books. She is 10 or 11 when she says,

"Oh, I've read lots of books," answered Rebecca casually. "Father's and Miss Ross's and all the dif'rent school teachers', and all in the Sunday-school library. I've read The Lamplighter, and Scottish Chiefs, and Ivanhoe, and The Heir of Redclyffe, and Cora, the Doctor's Wife, and David Copperfield, and The Gold of Chickaree, and Plutarch's Lives, and Thaddeus of Warsaw, and Pilgrim's Progress, and lots more. - What have you read?"

Marit read this and said it was just a fun read. Listen or download the unabridged audio for free:

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

And speaking of mothers, here is a post that I wrote around Mother's Day last year about a wonderful book, My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World.

Narrating Our Way Through Julius Caesar

2011-04-24T18:44:00.000-07:00


"Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!"

Our Charlotte Mason co-op, Truth, Beauty, Goodness performed Julius Caesar for Family Night last week. In honor of the Bard's 447th birthday, I wanted to share with you some pictures and explain how we went about the play. From the audience's response as well as the children's, I would say this has been our favorite and best play to date!

"Beware the ides of March!"

We met 6 times over the course of 12 weeks. Students were to listen and read one act, then come back to co-op and present their narrations. At the end of this post is an outline of the variety of narrations assigned, each student presenting at least once and with a narration that was within their developmental capacities. The students were to listen to the scene only once at home, then prepare their narrations. Oh, my, did they shine! It was one little girl's first written narration (age 9) - she was so proud to read it to us (she wrote a diary entry as a young girl in the mob scene at the funeral). The videotape of the news reporter in a toga, reporting the assassination as it unfolded, was spot-on.

Gentle Portia and Brutus

Here is LizzeBee's (9) poem narration of Act 2.4

Portia finds out the conspirator's plan

and says to the servant Lucius,

"Go to the capital- an errand for thee."

"But why?" says the servant Lucius.

"For word from my husband, Brutus.
He left ill in his mind this day.
But don't go yet - I hear a noise!"
Lucius says, "I cannot stay!"

"Quiet! Listen more closely.
Ahh-the soothsayer comes this way!"
"I hear it now!" Lucius cries,
"What brings you here today?"

"I go to warn Caesar at the capital.
He has not arrived there yet.
He ignored me on the streets one day-
That I am sure he'll regret."

"I must go,"says the soothsayer,
I'll be trampled to death -
Senators, praetors, citizens-
Did I mention their foul breath?"

"We will be satisfied; let us be satisfied!"

Julius Caesar Narration Ideas

I Have Found a Door

2011-04-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

"There is a saying of King Alfred's that I like to apply to our School,--"I have found a door," he says. That is just what I hope your School is to you--a door opening into a great palace of art and knowledge in which there are many chambers all opening into gardens or field paths, forest or hills. One chamber, entered through a beautiful Gothic archway, is labeled Bible Knowledge, and there the Scholar finds goodness as well as knowledge, as indeed he does in many others of the fair chambers. You see that doorway with much curious lettering? History is within, and that is, I think, an especially delightful chamber. But it would take too long to investigate all these pleasant places and indeed you could label a good many of the doorways from the headings of your term's programme.

"But you will remember that the School is only a "Door" to let you in to the goodly House of Knowledge, but I hope you will go in and out and live there all your lives--in one pleasant chamber and another; for the really rich people are they who have the entry to this goodly House, and who never let King Alfred's 'Door' rust on its hinges, no, not all through their lives, even when they are very old people.

-H. Franklin, 1923, In Memoriam, p. 115

The Labor of Sisyphus

2011-04-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Sisyphus by Titian (1548)

We had a Charlotte Mason support group meeting last night. I never know what we should call ourselves! "Support group" sounds like we all have a problem and need help. Sometimes I say "PMEU" for Parent's Midwest Education Union, but then NOBODY knows what it is we do. "Book discussion group" is probably the safest bet. Sigh.

We talked about the fact that Mason says that the teacher, who is often willing to "lay down his life" for the student, still cries out in frustration at trying to teach the students.

"But how?" cries the teacher, whose life is spent in the labour of Sisyphus." (Vol. 6. p. 240)

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus spent his life tricking the gods. In his afterlife, he was doomed to push a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down once he reached the top. The term "labor of Sisyphus" refers to a fruitless task that is perpetually repeated.

In Mason's day, she was lamenting the teacher's improper view of the child, which resulted, among other things, in teaching methods that didn't teach the child much at all. Indeed, she thought that self-education was the only true education, so despite the "teaching, talk and tale, however lucid or fascinating, effect nothing until self-activity be set up." In effect, the teaching becomes a labor of Sisyphus, doomed to frustrating repetition.

We had in attendance a college professor, private school teachers, homeschool parents and concerned grandparents. Not only did we talk about many of the same issues that Mason saw in her day, but we added a host of other reasons teaching can be a labor of Sisyphus. Add to Mason's list standardized testing, textbooks, disconnected subjects, inconsistent home life and textbooks. Did I mention textbooks?

I think we have chanced on a way that, at any rate, works to admiration, the principles and practice of which I am anxious to bring before you...and it remains with the reader to determine each with himself whether that solution which I here propose is or is not worth a trial. (Vol. 6, p. 249)

Every year, little by little, more of us graduate students educated according to Mason's principles and practice. The trial that was successful 100 years ago is proving to be successful today. More and more schools are opening, one by one. I know that I have more confidence with my remaining students than I did with the first two. It's exciting to know that so many others are now giving her methods a trial.

A Favorite Poet

2011-03-30T05:58:00.000-07:00

Thomas Gray (1716-1770)

I have been busy with a special writing project and will be for a few weeks. I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers during this time. So, my posts may be scarce around here for awhile. However, today I have a new post up over at Educating Mother. It's a little piece about what Thomas Gray called "thoughts that breathe". Please stop by over there, have a look and leave a comment.

Sursum Corda,

Nancy, (who is thankfully listening to robins this morning)

Hominus Vis - "The Strength of Man"

2011-03-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

"Mom - what is Hovis?" asked Marit this week.

"I have no idea, dear. What are you reading?"

"How the Heather Looks by Joan Bodger. It says 'Then (I) asked him where I could buy bread. That all depended, he said. Did I just want bread, or did I want Hovis?' "

Thus began a fun trek into something that is, apparently, a cultural icon in England that I knew nothing about. At least I don't ever remember noticing it.

Enjoy these two videos about Hovis bread - they are really good! The first one was made in 2008 and takes you through history. The second was made in 1973 and was voted England's all-time favorite advertisement.

Now I'm curious to know what it tastes like!

The name "HOVIS" was coined by Herbert Grime from the Latin phrase hominus vis which means "the strength of man".

You can read more at the educational Hovis website.

Also, I did find a reference to Hovis in a outdated Parents' Review article from 1901 titled "The Feeding of Growing Children."

Bread and butter is generally much liked by children and is very wholesome, and it is well to vary the kind of bread from time to time--brown bread, Hovis, Germ, Plasmon, etc., all make pleasant changes.

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(Just a note - I've passed 100 likes on facebook, email subscribers and feeds. I have one more gift, and if you are a book lover, you'll really like it! It will go to the 100th person to follow on the blog sidebar. Thanks, everyone!!!)

Bent Leather, Part 2

2011-03-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Sioux Falls

wild turkeys in Pipestone

the prairie

So many of you responded to my last post (Bent Leather, Part 1) via email and comments to tell about how your parents were so conversant and inquiring with strangers! For the most part, this was a good thing and I found some of your stories heartwarming. Thank you.

Do we see the results of this type of education only as the students become adults? Mason tells us that her methods have a "curious" effect on the whole family. "Children so taught are delightful companions because they have large interests and worthy thoughts; they have much to talk about and such casual talk benefits society." (Vol. 6, p. 267)


Pipestone National Monument

But how does this happen? We looked at Mason's example of an astonishing amount of substantives used by an eleven-year-old (see the wordle) and read the vignette about Sir Walter Scott who finally discovered a traveling companion's specialty (bent leather) and was therefore able to have a lively conversation with the saddler. From the section I am reading from, Vol. 6, p. 260-268, Mason gives us some specifics.

"Perform the graceful office of presenting the one enthusiastic mind to the other."

I love the way she states this! Most of us think we need to be the bridge between the book's author and the child, but Mason disagrees and knows that the students can understand the well-written book. Indeed, it is a "graceful office" she speaks of.

"A great deal of consecutive reading from very various books."

Avoid "general knowledge" learning which results in "scrappy information." The readings are well thought-out, orderly, from excellent literature and across the disciplines.

"Telling again...it is really a magical creative process."

She had her students narrate - in one way, shape or form - everything. It is a way of learning and changes the way you think.

"Single reading"

This is a tough one. If my child didn't hear it or wasn't listening, of course I should read it again - right? If the student knows that the material will only be read once, he learns to automatically have the habit of attention. If we know we can hear it again or look it up again, we relax in the attention department. "I dwell on the single reading because, let me repeat, it is impossible to fix attention on that which we have heard before and know we shall hear again."

reading on a lazy afternoon

This week we have had a special guest in our house. She, too, has been educated using Mason's methods. In light of all this talk of substantives and bent leather, I wish you could have been a fly on the wall as the effects have been very "curious". I'll leave you with a sampling of our discussions:

indigo farming, camel spiders, Pettigrew House, flax, TORO, "Aurora Leigh", Wollstonecraft, Sioux Uprising, okra, Beatrix Potter, petroglyphs, patriarchalism, placentas, Shanghai,coffee, frozen wastelands, Arthur Ransome, bats, fun dip, Julius Caesar, legends about St. Patrick and Landmark books

(All the photos in this post were taken this week in and around southwest Minnesota.)

This is lefse!

50 degrees - porch swing weather!

Bent Leather, Part 1

2011-03-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

Do you see those 200 words up in that wordle? How many of those names, places and things do you recognize? Charlotte Mason, the late British educator, published this list in order to make a point about her method of education. I'll get back to that in a minute.

Long, long ago, before my oldest two skipped off to their respective halls of academia, they remarked about how their dad seemed to be able to talk with just about anyone. I mean, not just exchange niceties, but ask questions and discuss whatever it was the stranger was familiar with or accomplished at - from exotic animal experts to paper mill executives. (This really did happen at a B & B in Missouri - it was a bit bizarre.) Dh told the boys that if they read a lot and read widely - and he is a good example of this - they will always be able to hold an engaging conversation with just about anyone on any topic. You don't necessarily need to be an expert, you just need familiarity and a working knowledge of many things. Besides, he said, it will make your life more interesting and less self-absorbed.

Along those same lines, read this little vignette about Sir Walter Scott:

Perhaps there is no better way of measuring a person of liberal education than by the number of substantives he is able to use with familiarity and discrimination. We remember how Scott tried a score of openings with the man on the coach and got no further until he hit upon 'bent leather'; then the talk went merrily for the man was a saddler. We have all had such experiences and know to our shame that we ourselves have victimised interlocutors who have not been able to find our particular 'bent leather.' Vol. 6 p. 260.

Okay, now back to the wordle at the top of the page. These words were all used by an eleven-year-old with 'ease and fitness' on an examination. The child had heard the material one time during the term and had no review before the exam. I don't think that anyone will have a problem finding this child's 'bent leather' when he is older, nor do I think he will have a difficult time finding others'! This ability to be familiar with so many things - and we are not talking about "general knowledge" here - is one of the reasons I was drawn to Mason in the first place. I've seen what a broad education as she describes can do for a person and so I am delighting in offering it to my four still at home, in addition to our CM co-op, Truth , Beauty, Goodness. However, there is more . Mason was very specific in how to go about this. I will talk about that in my next post, "Bent Leather, Part 2".

Irish Gusto

2011-03-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

Do you do anything special to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Someone here will probably get green milk at the supper table. Rumor has it that we will experience a full Irish meal by a certain son and friend - that could be fun. We will, of course, read. Last year, I told you about a favorite living book on St. Patrick in the post, St. Patrick's Day: A Riddle, A Pot and a Book. This year, I have another book to share with you!

St. Patrick's Day by Mary Cantwell is from the Crowell Holiday Book series. The titles in this series that were printed in the 60s are accurate and sweet. The history lesson is just right for young elementary students and Cantwell clearly describes Patrick's faith, telling us that "he let nothing stop him from teaching Christianity". We are introduced to both the legends and the facts. About the illustrations, the jacket states, "Ursula Arndt's lively illustrations add the right touch of Irish gusto to this engaging book." I find that I benefit from a wee bit of Irish gusto once in a while, don't you?

Sixth Annual Living Education Retreat

2011-02-28T11:28:00.000-08:00

Every year for six years in a row my, friends and I have organized the Living Education Retreat. I am so excited to present to you the flyer for our 2011 retreat! I hope you can join us for a mindful, relaxing weekend. For a more detailed description about what happens at our retreats, here is a post with details - Living Education Retreat.

LER 2011 Flyer

Economics for Nine-Year-Olds : The Mississipi Bubble

2011-02-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

Chardin - Boy Blowing Bubbles

     We had a fun economics lesson today! LizzieBee and I were reading one of my favorite chapters in This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall titled "The Mississippi Bubble". I asked her if she knew what the Mississippi Bubble was and she replied, "No. But when we're done, can we please look up a picture of it on your iPad, Mom?"
   "Ummm-sure. That is, when we're through reading and narrating the chapter," I said, sporting a bewildered smile. I smiled because I knew she had no idea about the subject matter and that she was probably envisioning a long, giant soap bubble in the shape of the Mississippi. My bewilderment was because I had no idea what we would look up on the Internet.
     We read the chapter over a few days, talking and remarking about inflation, greed and gullibility. In short, the Mississippi Bubble was a speculative bubble devised by Scotsman John Law for the economically disabled France. Law promised amazing wealth for those who would buy shares in his company which would be trading all the wondrous, new-found treasures from across the ocean in the Louisiana wilderness. Problem was, Louisiana didn't have any treasures. No matter, people were desperate to get rich quick so the buying of shares went crazy. So, more paper bank notes were printed. Inflation skyrocketed and the rest, as they say , is history.
     Marit added her two-cents from reading Whatever Happened to Penny Candy and LeMoyne wanted to know if the run on the bank in It's a Wonderful Life had some similarities. I was then reminded that we were going to look it up on the Internet. Thankfully, I found this excellent, informative and fun cartoon short on the Mississippi Bubble.

   There is also a living Landmark book on the subject called The Mississippi Bubble by Thomas Costain.

I was curious about other examples of these bubbles. Most fascinating is the speculative bubble "tulipmania" that hit 17th century Holland. If no one has written a piece of historical fiction on that - someone should! There was also a South Sea bubble in 1720 and of course, our very own crash of 1929 which ushered in the Great Depression.
That was our little economics lesson, tucked into our history lesson. While some of the details may be a little abstract for the younger children, you can see it "tickling their brains" as they ask further questions and begin to make connections. Before I homeschooled my children, I will admit that I was like LizzieBee and had no idea what the Mississippi Bubble was. The only reason I was a step ahead of her was that I had been over it twice before with the boys. Aren't bubbles fascinating?

GRATEFULNESSE GIVEAWAY! I'm so thankful for those who read and interact with my blog that I want to send a special little something out to two of you. The 100th person to "like" Sage Parnassus on Facebook will receive a humble gift from me. It is presently at 97. Also, the 100th person to "follow" my blog will get a snail mail treat. I now have 78 followers. What will it be? A book, of course!

Consider

2011-02-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

Did you jump on the bandwagon of picking a word for 2011? The point is to choose a word that will inspire you in the coming year, a word that you would like to see manifested in your life or family. It's a good idea, I think. So, did you pick one?

I finally settled on a word. It's consider. It works for me on so many levels. It simply means to think carefully about something. Even consideration works as it means to think carefully and continuously. My mind immediately goes to the verse, "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Luke 12:27)

Pot of bulbs for Valentine's Day. Note the nest the littles added. Sweetness.

So, when I came across this story in The Story of Charlotte Mason by Essex Cholmondley, I knew I had my word for 2011. Never mind that it's already halfway through February.

It seems that some of the senior students wished to have more comfortable furnishings at the House of Education - some sofas or overstuffed chairs, perhaps? Seems like a reasonable request. They presented their ideas to the other students who were not moved at all. They liked the open rooms and small chairs as it made it easier to move about and huddle by the fire. Why change things?

These older students were determined to update and improve the seating situation. (I want to insert a joke here about feng shui and Mason, but I can't make it work...) Undaunted, they proceeded to a conference with Ms. Mason. They cautiously approached their unsmiling mentor.

In a few quiet words which compelled the utmost attention she said that there was one word in the language which they must learn to understand, the word consideration. The must consider before they reached a conclusion. The word implied the power to see principles and to apply them to the notions which inspire common thought. Quietly, sternly, shortly, she made them aware of her horror of idleness of mind, then she dismissed them. They realized that armchairs and sofas were not important matters for conference deliberations. They were also aware that they had been thinking lightly and irresponsibly. That was why they had been quietly and absolutely rebuked. (p. 154)

Well!

Her response does seem a bit harsh, but her advice is good. I suspect that perhaps these students had it coming, as Mason seems to have previously considered the situation. I also wonder if the importance that she placed on the outdoors had something to do with her response. ("Never be within doors when you can rightly be without." Vol. 1 p. 42) I don't know. But I do think that consider is a great word. I think I'll choose it.

A Book List!

2011-02-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Biography might just be my personal favorite genre of books. I read my first biography in 3rd grade. It was titled Babe Didrikson - Girl Athlete and was from the Childhood of Famous Americans series. My latest read is about a favorite author, Lois Lenski (1893-1974). She wrote dozens of books, most notably her Mr. Small series and her charming regional books like Strawberry Girl and Judy's Journey. Marit (dd 13) has gobbled these up over the years and has a shelf devoted to them.

I'm only halfway through the book, but last night I came upon a book list that I thought you might find interesting. Here is Lois Lenski's list of books that she grew up on. It looks terribly familiar, doesn't it?

Little Women, Jo's Boy, etc. by Louisa May Alcott
   We loved and read all her books over and over again.
The Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner
Elsie Dinsmore by Martha Finley
   I must confess I loved and wept over both these books.
The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
The Little Lame Prince by Miss Muloch
Poems by Eugene Field
Child Rhymes by James Whitcomb Riley
     We learned and recited many of these poems.
The Birds' Christmas Carol, Polly Oliver's Problem, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
Next to Louisa Alcott, Kate Douglas Wiggin was my favorite author. All her books were read over and over, and were dearly loved.
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch by Alice H. Rice
   This and The Birds' Christmas Carol made a special appeal to me due to their humor and pathos.
The Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
     A great favorite, sentiment and all.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
     We loved horses because Mama did.
Helen's Babies by John Hibberton

The following were general family books, owned mostly by Esther and the boys, but read by us all:

Robinson Crusoe; Swiss Family Robinson; Arabian Nights; Baron Munchausen; Prose Tales by Edgar Allan Poe; Uncle Tom's Cabin; Pilgrim's Progress. The boys had many of the Henry and Alger books, but I never read any of them.

Other books that we did not own, but may have borrowed from the Sidney Public Library were: Gulliver's Travels, Grimms' and Andersen's Fairy Tales, Red, Blue, and Green Fairy Tales; Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. We were awarded certain books as premiums by the Shelby County Fair, for schoolwork exhibited there.

- from Journey Into Childhood, The Autobiography of Lois Lenski pp. 68-69

Love

2011-02-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

This week I wrote a guest post over at Educating Mother. Please take a walk over there to read my post on love - just in time for Valentine's Day!

Sursum Corda in Natural Law

2011-01-29T16:31:00.000-08:00

(This post was originally written for and posted at the ChildLight USA blog.)

What I desire to set before the reader is a method of education based upon natural law.(Mason, 1955, p. 3)

Last year at the CLUSA conference during a lecture on education models, the speaker mentioned that Mason's curriculum is based on natural law. The woman next to me leaned over and whispered, "So, what exactly is natural law?" I quickly whispered back something about natural law being the set of laws not necessarily written down anywhere, but that people everywhere would acknowledge. She looked at me quizzically. I resolved to look into it.

Mason writes about natural law in the physical and the moral/mental sense. In the physical sense, she speaks of the importance of good health, nutrition and atmosphere. Everyone would acknowledge that these things are important whether they adhere to them or not. Mason (1955) states,

In the first place, we have considered some of the conditions to be observed with a view to keep the brain in healthy working order; for it is upon the possession of an active, duly nourished brain that the possibility of a sound education depends. (p. 95)

A curriculum based on natural law in this sense will utilize short, varied lessons and will pay attention to how a child learns best, taking heed that the child's physical being and surroundings are optimal in order for him to learn.

Mason talks about natural law within the curriculum. Of mathematics she (Mason, 1954) says, "that two straight lines cannot enclose a space is a fact which we can perceive, state and act upon but cannot in any wise alter, should give children the sense of limitation which is wholesome for all of us, and inspire the sursum corda which we should hear in all natural law" (p. 6). Sursum corda is Latin for "to lift up your hearts". There is something in natural law that should cause our hearts to soar!

As for the moral/mental area of natural law, here Mason has so much to say. Ideas! Relationships! Behavior of mind! Image bearers! Duty! Authority! Habits! C.S. Lewis, a proponent of natural law principles called this "universal morality". He (1952) says:

These then are the two points that I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in. (p. 21)

Mason recognized these universal principles (or universal morality, as Lewis calls it) and framed her curriculum around them. As Lewis states, you can know about natural law but ignore it. She says, "We labour under the mistake of supposing that there is not natural law or inherent principle according to which a child's course of studies should be regulated" (Mason, 1989, Vol. 6, p. 156). In fact, if we don't subscribe to natural law, the curriculum will end up in the one of the following camps which are either utilitarian or materialistic in nature:

· The three Rs - reading, writing and arithmetic

· Class etiquette - those things proper for a gentlemen to know

· Vocational work - training for an occupation

· Latest fad or theory - children as experiments

· Achievement tests and scholarships - test prep

Mason calls for a curriculum based on natural law - a complete curriculum that is suggested in the very nature of things. Her basis for natural law is found in Truth. Perhaps this is why so many of us experience sursum corda when we study her writings and apply her philosophy.

Resources

Lewis, C.S. (1952). Mere Christianity. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.

Mason, C.M. (1954). An essay towards a philosophy of education. London: J.M. Dent & Sons LTD. (Original published in 1925).

Mason, C.M. (1955). Home education: The education and training of children under nine. Oxford: The Scrivener Press, LTD. (Original published in 1886).

A Very Blusterous Day Outside

2011-01-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

"Correct me if I am wrong," he said, "but am I right in supposing that it is a very Blusterous day outside?" - The House at Pooh Corner

So right now, it's -4 degrees F outside but feels like -24 degrees F with the windchill. I'm not kidding - I just checked the Weather Channel. Clearly, this was a good day to make -

HONEY HOT CHOCOLATE FOR A VERY BLUSTEROUS DAY OUTSIDE

Old cookbooks based on children's literature are something everyone here loves to read and use. The Pooh Cookbook is just one example. I have the 1969 version by Virginia H. Ellison, but I did see that an updated version is available. (I prefer my old one which can be procured for only a few dollars!)

Today we made Honey Hot Chocolate for a Very Blusterous Day Outside. It can be found under the section "Smackerels, Elevenses, and Teas".

My favorite cup

FOR 4 CUPS:
1/3 cup water
4 Tablesppons unsweetened cocoa
2 pinches salt

Stir and simmer for 2 minutes until smooth.

Add:
2 Tablespoons honey
3 cups milk

When it is very hot and before it boils, remove from the heat and serve.

Simple yet special! I will share more from my cookbooks later. Do you have some favorite cookbooks of this literary sort? Please leave a comment and tell me which ones!

A Living Book for St. Valentine's Day

2011-01-17T04:09:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for a living book that ties in some of the history of Valentine's Day? Here is a post about a favorite of ours!

Saint Valentine

Sphere of Influence

2011-01-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

For those of you eager to read more about Charlotte Mason, here is something that will interest you. I just read a fascinating chapter on Mason in a hard-to-find book. I must say that I am not endorsing this book, only chapter 7 ("Knowledge as the Necessary Food of the Mind" Charlotte Mason's Philosophy of Education pp. 105-125), written by Stephanie Spencer. The book is Women, Education, and Agency, 1600-2000. Consider this in regard to Mason's sphere of influence:

28. In 1936 a "gathering" of 400 teachers, pupils, and parents was held at Ambleside. The event was widely reported and it was noted that 40,000 children were studying with Mason's methods. The Schoolmistress 29 April 1936 reported that it was "surely the biggest school in the world, and it literally does cover the whole world, House of Education students may be found today in Africa (south, east, west, and Uganda), Australia, Canada, India and Ceylon, New Zealand, USA, and South America, China, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Egypt, Japan, Newfoundland, Sumatra, Madagascar, Malacca, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Germany, France, Portugal, and Rumania (sic). (Spencer, 2010)

The chapter is full of titillating goodies such as her networking prowess and her rather combative letters to The Times. Ms. Spencer mentions the fact that much of her correspondence was destroyed rather mysteriously and what we have left is basically only works of admiration. I agree with the author's conclusion:

What she could not foresee was that her biographers' understandable admiration for their mentor resulted in a legacy which, while worthy, has not yet been examined or researched in the detail which it undoubltedly deserves." (Spencer, 2010)

This is changing with the digitization of the archives and the continued research by many today. If you're interested in one woman's take on a historical look at Mason and her influence, you'll want to read this.

Forest for the Trees

2011-01-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

The fact that oral language is foundational to all learning was emphasized at our book discussion group a few nights ago. The next day I was more aware than usual about this fact. May I share with you an example of how oral language skills, narration in particular, can build a foundation for future connections, composition, critical thinking and good citizenship? I will unfold the conversation in a moment. I want to say that, having graduated two using this method, it really is fascinating to me to be doing this again but with hindsight. This time, I can see the forest for the trees, even though they are still small saplings.

So, here's how the conversation unfolded.

I am snuggled on the couch, reading D'aulaires Benjamin Franklin to my DD(7). I finish the reading with Franklin's famous line, "We must indeed hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang separately." She narrates the reading and then asks me what that last part meant. I give her a brief explanation.

From the next room, DS(11) says,"Shakespeare does that all the time.The pun Franklin used was on the word hang and in The Comedy of Errors Shakespeare does that with words like marks.

Where is the thousand marks thou hast of me?

I have some marks of yours upon my pate,
Some of my mistress' marks upon my shoulders,
But not a thousand marks between you both."
Act 1.2.83-85

DD (7)then says, "I was thinking about that Aesop's Fables story with the dad and his fighting sons. He uses sticks to show them that only one would break easily, but a bunch of sticks can't be broken."

DD (9) then relays a fairy tale about a king trying to teach his sons to work together in order to receive the best inheritance.

DH (?) happened to be home working on his computer. He chimes in with "And don't forget that if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken!"

So, we started out with politics, then went to literary devices, moved on to fables, fairy tales and the Bible. Some of the things quoted were read months ago. Mason says the following about this type of education:

The response of the young students to such a scheme of study is very delightful. What they write has literary and sometimes poetic value, and the fact that they can write well is the least of the gains acquired. They can read, appreciating every turn of their author's thought; and they can bring cultivated minds to bear on the problems of the hour and the guiding of the State; that is to say, their education bears at every point on the issues and interests of every day life, and they shew good progress in the art of becoming the magnanimous citizens of the future. Vol. 6 p. 194

Having just read about Mason's plans for oral language skills, in particular narration/composition ( Vol. 6, p. 190-209), and how this can benefit the student down the road, I enjoyed the exchange between everyone and realized that they are building the foundation for what she describes above. I guess I just wanted to encourage those of you with young children who are pursuing this method to keep at it. After a few years, your children develop this wonderful reservoir of ideas from which to draw from and you will see a large, diverse forest.

Scintillations From Their Own Genius

2011-01-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

As I sat down to plan out some details of our next semester in the new year, I read some encouraging words from Charlotte Mason on composition. Exciting words, really. Wouldn't you like to think that a practice in your school might someday result in a Homer, Scott or Shakespeare?

Among these is the art of composition, that art of 'telling' which culminates in a Scott or a Homer and begins with the toddling persons of two and three who talk a great deal to each other and are surely engaged in 'telling' though no grown-up, not even a mother, can understand. (Mason, Vol. 6, p. 190)

Mason describes composition as almost entirely oral during the first few years of school. This form of composition is what we call narration. This early foundation of oral work, practiced throughout the student's years, should yield students with excellent composition abilities in their later school years. One of the biggest challenges is actually implementing this method in the daily, consistent manner which Mason prescribes. She meant for composition (oral and written) to be used daily and in every subject. "Composition is not an adjunct but an integral part of their education in every subject." (Mason, Vol. 6. p. 192)

The day-in, day-out practice of narration eventually will become second nature - a habit, if you will. As they mature and venture into more advanced types of composition, they will tell what they know and increasingly add their own touch to their work. Mason tells us that this is exactly what great writers do.

How is it possible, it may be asked, to show originality in 'mere narration'? Let us ask Scott, Shakespeare, Homer, who told what they knew, that is narrated, but with continual scintillations from their own genius playing upon the written word. Just so in their small degree do the children narrate; they see it all so vividly that when you read or hear their versions the theme is illuminated for you too. (Mason, Vol. 6, p. 182)

As you work with you students this new semester, remember the practice of narration as composition. You will be building a strong foundation for their future writing skills.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2010-12-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

I'll be back in a week or so - everyone is home and I'm spending all my time with them! We took some pictures today, as you can see. Enjoy your holiday season. Godspeed, Nancy (Luke 2:1-20)

Good King Wenceslas

2010-12-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

There's an unbelievable blizzard raging outside right now and all the activities scheduled for today have been canceled. I'm happy for this break from the holiday hustle and bustle. A blizzard is the perfect backdrop for this post about a minor obsession of mine - Saint Wenceslas. It's funny that one of my favorite Christmas carols isn't about Christmas. At least not directly. But before I carry on about it, here is a favorite rendition with a Celtic sound. Go ahead, hit play while you finish reading this post!

I first heard Good King Wenceslas on some vinyl my parents had. It was one of those Time-Life Christmas albums by a million different popular artists, and this song was sung by a men's choir. Later, when my oldest two were quite little, a local gas station gave away a book with each fill-up. Books for gas. Good King Wenceslas was one of those and it quickly became a favorite. That book led us to looking up the words to the song...which led to singing the song...which led to memorizing it. When LittleJack was seven, he sang all five verses acapella for the Christmas program. Why didn't I tape that? Oh, well. Here are the words I put on a printable for you:

Good King Wenceslas Final

What we know about the real Wenceslas is sketchy but dramatic. He ruled Bohemia from 921 to 929. He was known for his piety and the hostility he faced from non-Christian factions. He was murdered by his own brother on the church steps when he was only 22. J.M. Neale wrote the words to the song in 1853 and set them to a well-known 13th century Swedish tune about flowers, "Tempus adest floridum".

So we have a war-torn country, a plotting mother, lots of good vs. evil, a jealous brother and a Christian duke trying to do the right thing. If this isn't fodder for some great historical fiction or a great movie, I don't know what is! But sadly, there isn't a whole lot to look at. Here are some of my finds.

The only chapter book for students I can find. This is a living book for ages 10-14. It digs into all the good vs. evil/Christian vs. non-Christian elements raging around Wenceslas. Strangely, it ends on a happy note just short of his murder.

Good King Wenceslas by Pauline Baynes (yes, the Narnia illustrator!) retells the story in this charming yet blunt picture book.


My favorite picture book about Wenceslas. Wenceslas took his fabled goodwill mission on December 26, St. Stephen's Day. This book tells the story through a lonely page who is chosen to accompany him.

One Advent season we were driving through New Prague, MN which is about 2 hours from our home. I remember looking out the window and seeing a beautiful church with the name "St. Wenceslaus"! Well, of course - Prague, Czech Republic is home to Wenceslas Square and Wenceslas is the patron saint of Bohemia. I do have plans to visit someday soon. New Prague in MN, that is.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. Thank you for all your comments and support on my blog during its inaugural year.

John 1:14,

Nancy

The following list are other copies that I have. If you have any other suggestions, books or any other ephemera, I would love to hear about them.

Good King Wenceslas, Cavendish (A Madison Mini Book) - that gas station gift
Good King Wenceslas, Wallner - picture book, illustrator influenced by German Renaissance painters
Good King Wenceslas, Henterly - picture book - gift for LittleJack after he sang
Good King Wenceslas, Manson - picture book - sturdy woodcuts and borders
Wenceslas: The Eternal Christmas Story - McCaughrean - on order! Looking forward to reading this!

What to Read for Christmas

2010-12-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

Two Kelly kids reading A Christmas Carol illustrated by Liz Zwerger. We also like her illustrations in The Nutcracker and The Gift of the Magi.

It seems that everyone in the blogging world is blogging about their favorite Christmas books, past and present. I have collected old Christmas books for years, so these posts are some of my favorites. It's a wonderful thing to snuggle up on the couch under a quilt to read and re-read books that appear only once a year. I'll share a few of our family's top picks here.

A Pollyanna-type Christmas story with a sad ending. Carol Bird is a terminally ill child who was born on Christmas day. It teaches many values without being too preachy. Each time we read it, we hope she'll live and when she doesn't, we resolve to live more like her. (We have three copies by different illustrators.)

Did you know that Charlotte Mason talked about what sort of books should be read at Christmas time? Here is her advice to parents of children nine and under:

It is a pity when the sense of the ludicrous is cultivated in children's books at the expense of better things. This point is worth considering in connection with Christmas books for the little people. Books of 'comicalities' cultivate no power but the sense of the incongruous; and though life is the more amusing for the possession of such a sense, when cultivated to excess it is apt to show itself a flippant habit. Diogenes and the Naughty Boys of Troy is irresistible, but it is not the sort of thing the children will live over and over, and 'play at' by the hour, as we have all played at Robinson Crusoe finding the footprints. Vol. 1, p. 158

Good, common-sense advice on choosing high quality books, even at Christmas. But then she throws out this one:

They must have 'funny books,' but do not give the children too much nonsense reading.

There you have it - permission to indulge in a not-so-serious book or two. She must have been acquainted with a few real families. Here are a couple more that we enjoy, including some "fluffy" titles. Happy reading this holiday season. May each story you read together eventually lead you to the story.


Any book by Tasha Tudor...or illustrated by Tasha Tudor...or about Tasha Tudor is a favorite here. Take Joy, Samantha's Surprise, Forever Christmas, The Night Before Christmas, The Dolls' Christmas, Becky's Christmas, The Christmas Cat, Advent Calendar and Favorite Christmas Carols. I think that's all I have. So far.

A handful of shorter (and some fluffy) books:
Apple Tree Christmas - Nobel (wonderful if you have a budding artist!)
The Crippled Lamb - Lucado (dh read this during a Christmas program one year long ago...there wasn't a dry eye in the place)
Christmas in Noisy Village - Lindgren (children in Sweden)
The Lion in the Box - De Angeli (resourceful children)
A Certain Small Shepherd - Caudill (I LOVE this story, small boy who won't talk after mom dies)
Santa's Book of Names -McPhail (about a boy just learning to read - we always seem to have one of those)

Subtitled "A Book of Stories Old and New", this is a favorite collection of Christmas stories.

This odd little book by the author of children's composer biographies is for Mom to read. It tells of Ms. Wheeler's
fulfilled dream to experience Christmas in Bethlehem.

The Canticle of the Bees

2010-11-30T15:15:00.000-08:00


"The Canticle of the Bees" and other charming Christmas poems can be found in this favorite book of ours. Ms. McGinley has taken fifteen medieval legends of the first Christmas and turned them into poems. "The original tales grew up in that era when wonders and miracles seemed very near at hand - when it seemed quite natural that all creation must have taken part in the Nativity."

The Canticle of the Bees

Bees in winter

Weather keep,

Rapt, a garden-haunted

Sleep,

Dream of summer,
Still as stone,
Save on Christmas Eve,
Alone,

When that honey-havened
People,
Roused by bells
From every steeple,

Wake and sing
With one accord
Alleluias
To the Lord.

"Praise Him,"
Sing the choiring bees,
"Lord of limes
and locust trees,

Him Who has
Dominion over
Fields of amaranthine
Clover,

"By Whose providence
We fare
Daily through
The throbbing air

"And return
In drowsy flight
From the pastures
Of delight,

"From the many-petaled
Rose,
Hiveward
When the shadows close."
So, at least,
The legend goes.

Visit them
When bells arrive.
Cup your ear
Against the hive.

You may hear them
Singing thus,
Small
but multitudinous:

"Alleluia,
Lord of all
Things that flutter,
Fly or crawl,

"Now Your Star
Has shone again,
Bless Your swarming Bees.
Amen."

Wondering, walk there.
Do not fear them.
But remember
As you near them,
Only the pure in heart
Shall hear them.

Gazing on Many Truths

2010-11-26T05:06:00.000-08:00

A key to education, according to Charlotte Mason, can be found in a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley where he speaks of "understanding that grows bright gazing on many truths." (Vol. 6, p. 157) This is true for the student of any age. It's also one of the reasons our co-op continues to flourish. We even have two moms who teach for us who don't have any children attending. Teaching and learning with Mason's philosophy and methods is really that different. Different enough that everyone, including the teachers, wants to "gaze on many truths".

Stille Nacht

Poet

This is my third and final post on the organization of our CM co-op, Truth, Beauty, Goodness. (The first is "Beginning Considerations" and the second is "The Schedule".) I will explain how we wrap up our semester with Family Night. This is a simple program so that family and friends can share in what the students have worked on all semester. Our latest program is listed below so you can see the variety of things we do. The schedule varies from program to program and usually ends with a dessert buffet.

Family Night November 18, 2010

At our Family Night program, each teacher introduces and explains her subject, but the focus is on the students. They recite poetry, sing hymns and folk songs, perform Shakespeare and other things. We try to include surprises for the students and have enjoyed some creative offerings. For example, when we finished Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream last year, we surprised the dads in the audience by giving them quick props and scripts from the rude mechanicals' scene where they act out Pyramus and Thisbe. Of course, the students were very familiar with it and howled with laughter as their dads deftly played the parts of Pyramus, Thisbe, the lantern, the wall and the lion.

fall 2009 - Pyramus and Thisbe


conferring during a game of Name That Tune

The next document is our scope and sequence to date. How exciting it is to look back and see the "many" from the "gazing on many truths."

2010 TBG Scope and Sequence Chart (1)

When we finished with Family Night last week, I heard comments like, "Why do we have to take a break?" and "When will we start again?" I hope these posts have given you some fresh ideas for your co-op!

artist and prints

handicrafts

nature notebooks

recitation

Gratefulnesse

2010-11-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

With the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, I thought I would write a little about being thankful. There are lots of blogs out there with free lesson plans, worksheets, historical information and the like - and for those I am thankful. But this post will be about the state of being thankful, which is a place we should find ourselves all of the time, isn't it?

We say grace for a kind look, or a beautiful poem, or a delightful book, quite as truly as for a good dinner - more so, indeed; for it is true of us also that man doth not live by bread alone. (Mason, Vol. 4, p. 192)

A KIND LOOK

This past Saturday, I attended a meeting of Mason educators in North Carolina through video conferencing via Skype. So, while I was sitting in snowy Minnesota (I'm serious - it was snowing), they sat comfortably in their balmy autumn weather. I was thankful for the kind discussion we were able to have about things that matter and that I could see their faces, too. Talking with Bonnie, Amber, Carroll, Tracy, Beth and others while I sat over a thousand miles away made me thankful for technology, too. (I refuse to think about my giant head up on a screen, though...)

A BEAUTIFUL POEM

George Herbert (1593-1633) stopped me in my tracks today. I will post the full poem at the end of this post for you to enjoy. Here is the last stanza of "Gratefulnesse" to whet your appetite -

Not thankfull when it pleaseth me,

As if Thy blessings had spare dayes;

But such a heart whose pulse may be

Thy praise.

A DELIGHTFUL BOOK

A Book of Golden Deeds of All Times and All Lands by Charlotte Yonge

I am using this book with my 4th and 5th grade children for citizenship. The chapter "The Cup of Water" captured their imaginations with the Biblical account of David pouring out a precious cup of water onto the ground. This water was brought to him by his soldiers who risked their lives for it. David poured it out as an offering to God. The author then ties in accounts of Alexander of Macedonia and Rudolf of Hapsburg. We read that chapter a month ago and they continue to think about it as it has come up in conversation more than once.

I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving with friends, family and maybe a stranger or two. Thank you for reading my blog. I enjoy your company and comments. Truly.

Gratefulnesse

Thou that hast giv'n so much to me,
Give one thing more, a gratefull heart:
See how Thy beggar works on Thee
                                           By art:

He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And sayes, If he in this be crost,
All Thou hast given him heretofore
                                            Is lost.

But Thou didst reckon, when at first
Thy word our hearts and hands did crave,
What is would come to at the worst
                                            To save.

Perpetuall knockings at Thy doore,
Tears sullyng Thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift; much would have more,
                                             And comes.

This notwithstanding, Thou went'st on,
And didst allow us all our noise;
Nay, Thou hast made a sigh and grone
                                             Thy joyes.

Not that Thou hast not still above
Much better tunes then grones can make,
But that theses countrey-aires Thy love
                                              Did take.

Wherefore I crie, and crie again,
And in no quiet canst Thou be,
Till I a thankfull heart obtain
                                              Of Thee.

Not thankfull when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare dayes;
But such a heart whose pulse may be
                                               Thy praise.

-George Herbert

The Pumpkin Pie Procession

2010-11-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

When Mistress Satterthwaite heard that their old friend Christopher Ludwig was ill, and that he and his wife needed her, she made plans to go to them at once, good woman that she was. At first she thought she would take Baby Betsy with her. But then she decided against it, for fear her two-year-old daughter would disturb the sick man. "And besides," she told her eldest daughter, "thee is fifteen, Lydia, and well able to look after Betsy and the others." -from "The Pumpkin Pie Procession"

So begins our favorite Thanksgiving read-aloud. This sweet short story of how the children in a Quaker family came to the aid of a very ill and former Baker General in the Army will warm your heart. Charles Ludwig was a real person appointed to the position by President Washington who really did declare the first thanksgiving proclamation by the new government in 1789. The resolve and determination of 15-year-old Lydia and 11-year-old Deborah is inspiring.

This story and many others by favorite authors such as Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Carol Ryrie Brink can be found in It's Time For Thanksgiving (1957), written and compiled by Elizabeth Hough Sechrist and Janette Woolsey. It has sections on history, stories, plays, poems, games, and recipes.

I just wanted to share this Thanksgiving favorite with you. Any book that has a game called "Pricilla, Where Art Thou?" based on John Alden and Priscilla Mullins has got to be worth something!

Mistaken Identities and Mistaken Assessments

2010-11-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest, I was not super-excited about teaching The Comedy of Errors to the kids. (You should have heard Marit, my 13 year-old, gasp with disbelief when I read her that line!) I chose this play because we could later attend a performance at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis - always a fitting conclusion after reading a play. So it was with some hesitation that I began my pre-class study of one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies. I thought maybe I would be relegated to talking about mistaken identities through bawdy, low comedy for an entire semester. The Bard, as usual, didn't let me down. There was so much more to this play than I first thought and we've been having a blast.

"The depth of this play lies in its surface." - Marjorie Garber Shakespeare After All

     Garber, author of my favorite go-to book about the plays, explains how each event displayed physically in the play corresponds to something inside the characters. This inwardness is not what you would expect from a rollicking farce. Granted, the kids howl with laughter at all the slapstick and I don't belabor these "inner meanings" in class, but it's clear that most of them have picked up on them.
     The Comedy of Errors is about a double set of identical twins. The masters - both named Antipholus, and their servants - both named Dromio, are separated at birth in a shipwreck. Everyone ends up in Ephesus and within a single day, mistaken identities cause confusion until the end of the play when all is made clear with happy reunions all around.
     Does the "twins-separated-at-birth" theme sound familiar? Think Parent Trap, Twins or Big Business. The story is nothing new, as even Shakespeare "borrowed" this theme from an earlier work (The Menaechmi). One fun aspect for our class is that we have a set of twins with their own tales to tell. (!)

Another surprise for me in reading this play is the Christian overlay. First, Shakespeare sets the play in Ephesus, a pagan city known for its worship of the goddess Diana. Ephesus would be familiar to Shakespeare's readers, too, as the city which St. Paul visited to spread the gospel. A perfect setting for confusion, weird events and a happy conclusion with an abbess at a priory. Speeches about relationships between husbands and wives as well as masters and servants abound. Garber points out that

Shakespeare drew on certain passages from the Bible, and especially from the writings of Saint Paul, both in Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians and in the Acts of the Apostles, where Ephesus is seen as a city of magic and witchcraft, where the residents "use curious arts."(p. 163)

While it's not my favorite play, I have really enjoyed it. Clearly, I was mistaken in my initial assessment. I don't think I'd use it as an introduction to Shakespeare, but for the initiated, it is well worth it. I used excerpts from the BBC production and the Stratford Festival of Canada's production in class. Both are very different and fun to compare.* Have any of you had experience with this play?

*The Flying Karamazov Brothers have a hilarious and brilliant production which you can view on You Tube, but the unfortunate, over-the-top lewdness of the kitchen wench character prevented me from using it with the students.

The "How I Wonder What You Are" Mood

2010-10-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

     You know what a magnificent spectacle the heavens have offered these last few frosty nights. Well, one of our youngsters has, I think, some turn for astronomy.
     "Look, father, what a great star! It's big enough to make the night light without the moon. It isn't always there; what's its name, and where does it go?"
     The boy was in the receptive 'How I wonder what you are' mood; anything and everything I could have told him would have been his––a possession for life.

So says a father about his inquisitive son in Mason's Formation of Character (p. 123) . Dad drops the ball in the next part, but then resolves to change things in the end. More on that in a minute.

We were treated to a night of star-gazing the other evening. Billy, the young man who showed us the sky with his 8" Schmitt-Cassegrain clearly caught the "How I Wonder What You Are" mood as a teenager from a passionate teacher. That awe and wonder is what we hope our children catch and keep their whole lives. I love this quote from Mason on the study of astronomy:

In astronomy, for example, emphasis is laid upon phenomena that the child himself can observe, and he is instructed how to go about it. The rising and setting of the stars, the phases of the moon, the uses of the telescope, are explained in simple words. The mystery of these and other matters is not magical, as the child at first supposes. It is to deeper mysteries that his attention is here directed. (Vol. p. 267)

Pictures taken with the 8" Schmitt-Cassegrain Telescope - M51- The Whirlpool Galaxy

M57 - Ring Nebula - "The Cheerio"

"I see the moon and the moon sees me..."

Back to the dad. Read how he handled the rest of the evening:

"That's not a star, it's a planet, Tom," with a little twaddle about how planets are like our earth, more or less, was all I had for his hungry wonder. As for how one planet differs from another in glory, his sifting questions got nothing out of me; what nothing has, can nothing give...
"Have they names? What is this, and this?"
"Those three stars are the belt of Orion"––the sum of my acquaintance with the constellations, if you will believe it! He bombarded me with questions all to the point. I tried bits of book knowledge which he did not want. It was a 'bowing' acquaintance, if no more, with the glorious objects before him that the child coveted, and he cornered me till his mother interfered with, 'That will do, Tom: don't tease father with your questions.' A trifling incident, perhaps, but do you know I didn't sleep a wink that night, or rather, I did sleep, and dreamt, and woke for good. I dreamt the child was crying for hunger and I had not a crust to give him. You know how vivid some dreams are. The moral flashed on me; the child had been crying to me with the hunger of the mind; he had asked for bread and got a stone. A thing like that stirs you. From that moment I had a new conception of a parent's vocation and of my unfitness for it. I determined that night to find some way to help ourselves and the thousands of parents in the same ignorant case.

Through this vignette (ficticious?), we learn that the father truly did seek reform and the PNEU was founded to help parents properly educate their children. There is much in the little story for us to learn, I think. But now, persevering reader, I have a question for you! I feel that being out in the night air with a knowledgeable guide is the best way to go about astronomy. To help us along, we are using "The Stars" by H.E. Ray. It does the job, but I would hardly call it "awe-inspiring". Have you found a living astronomy book that does just that? Would you kindly leave a note and tell me the title?

Weed It And Reap

2010-10-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

Our house and carriage house when it was first built 125 years ago.

As recently as seven years ago when my last child was born, a passerby stopped and suggested to my husband that he might consider wielding a machete to chop down the weeds taking over our front porch (which had no railing). Soon after that, a sweet lady from across town stopped by the house and invited me to come and see her garden. She also described in detail what she envisioned I could do with our pathetic front lawn if I was willing to do the research and heavy lifting. I had never gardened before, but her enthusiasm and vision for what she believed I could do was inspiring. I was finally at a place in my life where I could consider what she was saying and get to work. Over the next few years, our family worked hard on making the front yard what you see in the picture over on the right. We so enjoy it now, even though it needs a little weeding and the house will be ready for some new paint soon. "Nancy, what does this have to do with anything?" Stay with me here...

Oftentimes I hear from readers that, while they like my blog, they know of others who just get overwhelmed by everything presented. Obviously, this is the last thing that I want a visitor to my blog to feel. I also hear this at conferences on the Charlotte Mason method - "information overload" is a common complaint. As an organizer of conferences myself, that type of comment can be distressing and I work hard to try and build in time for reflection and contemplation of the ideas presented - no easy task.

I didn't wake up one morning when my firstborn was six and start implementing a flawless application of the Charlotte Mason philosophy in my homeschool. No, what I did was attend conferences and listen. Then I bought KONOS, Kathryn Stout materials and classical everything. I did attend a Carole Seid seminar at that first convention seventeen years ago. She mentioned using lots of books and reading this dead British spinster who wrote 6 tomes on education. Hmmmm.

I moved ahead with a unit study curriculum and then heard Susan Schaeffer Macaulay speak on education at a L'abri conference the following year. Then I read For The Children's Sake. Little by little, I implemented more and more of Mason's philosophy, which I found to be relentlessly true and alive. It wasn't until I was into it for three or four years that I could say with confidence that I used the Charlotte Mason method.I'm still learning and tweaking what I do. It's been a process, but there has been such reward and joy, as well as trials and errors, that I feel blessed to share about it all.

So, when you read this blog, you're hearing about all my experiences and observations seventeen years into the journey. When you attend a conference, any conference, you're paying to listen to experts in the field. My advice? Start where you are. Keep expectations realistic. Implement a little at a time. At home, join or start a community committed to learning and growing. Support is crucial - one committed friend will do. Try thinking deeply about one principle at a time. After all, a young woman attending Mason's House of Education took two full years to be trained properly in her methods.

Remember my messy yard at the beginning of this post? My friend could see the potential and the possibilities. I'm convinced that our schools can be transformed into places of beauty, too. For the newbie, you can start to read and apply - one thing at a time. For the experienced, consider coming alongside someone else and sharing some wisdom. Just like my yard, you will "weed it and reap".

Four Freedoms and Bing

2010-10-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

During picture study yesterday, we looked at Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms (1943). Rockwell was inspired by Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech (1941). He wanted to help with the war effort, but was too old to enlist, so he decided to paint. Problem was, the government wasn't interested in his paintings. Yet. Rockwell's old friend, The Saturday Evening Post happily picked up the paintings. They paired each one with an essay by some interesting names:

Freedom of Speech - Booth Tarkington
Freedom to Worship - Will Durant
Freedom from Want - Carlos Bulosan
Freedom from Fear - Stephen Vincent Benet

Guess what? Rockwell's Four Freedoms set new publishing records. Now, the the U.S. Treasury Dept. saw dollar signs in the form of war bonds. So, showcasing Rockwell's paintings, the Four Freedoms War Bond Show was launched, touring 16 cities and raising over $130 million dollars for the war effort. Rockwell really did help, didn't he?

My family was already familiar with Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. I'd like to say it's because we've studied this period in history or we because we know famous speeches by presidents during war time. Sorry, nothing as erudite as that. We know about the Four Freedoms because of Bing Crosby. You see, Holiday Inn (1942) is one of our favorite Christmas movies (albeit a bit schmaltzy), and Bing sings the following Freedom Song for the Fourth of July segment. It's interesting to note that the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred during the shooting of this film. Check out the Four Freedoms war montage in this excerpt. Now you won't forget them, either!

Charlotte Mason Education Conference

2010-10-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

Despite travel delays and wrong terminals, I made it to Canada! I had the privilege of sitting next to a retired Classics professor from the University of California - Berkeley. When he found out we read Plutarch in our school, he happily regaled me with some fascinating stories of his visits to Greece on archeology digs and his knowledge of the moral philosopher. I was totally engaged and the next thing I knew, we had landed.

I think the influence of Charlotte Mason's philosophy is about to expand exponentially. I heard about dozens of exciting projects in the works such as the new ChildLight USA curriculum, new books on CM, new schools, annotated versions of her books, teacher/parent training courses, DVDs, research projects and the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection.

Marlene Power explaining the CMDC

The launch of the CMDC was the focus of this conference. Dr. Deani Van Pelt of Redeemer University College was the organizer and introduced us to the archivist librarian Marlene Power who unveiled the website and guided us through some searches. Thanks to the work of a small group of individuals, anyone can now view and learn from thousands of documents in the CM archives at the Armitt Museum. You can view student exams, letters from CM, a note to CM from Florence Nightingale, notes on how to form a PNEU branch, photographs, nature notebooks, the hymn "For the Children's Sake", newspaper clippings to the editor from Maria Montessori and Charlotte Mason and thousands of other items that will help us understand and apply the philosophy with a clearer understanding.

Friends from AL, NY & CAN

I appreciate all the research being done - indeed, it definitely helps me to further my understanding. The researchers and practitioners need each other as they inform one another. In a sense, the research validates what so many of us do, but we already know it works. We already know it changes lives. That's why the best part of the conference was...coming home. This is where my work is. I was greeted by three emails from friends looking for some education advice, some feedback from our last support group meeting, a prayer request from our TBG co-op, and someone wanting information on our 2011 Living Education Retreat. These things invigorate my life, but it was those four little people who smothered me with hugs this morning that once again remind me that it is for the children's sake.

Autumn Miracles

2010-10-04T18:08:00.000-07:00


Autumn Leaves by John Everett Millais 1856 *

Has it happened at your house, too? Children running in with leaves, leaves and more leaves? "Look at this one! This one has three colors!"

They see it, don't they?

Children should be brought up, too, to perceive that a miracle is not less a miracle because it occurs so constantly and regularly that we call it a law; that sap rises in a tree, that a boy is born with his uncle's eyes, that an answer that we can perceive comes to our serious prayers; these things are not the less miracles because they happen frequently or invariably, and because we have ceased to wonder about them.
-Mason, Vol. 6, p. 148

*John Ruskin said that this painting was "the first instance of a perfectly painted twilight." Mallais himself said of the painting that he "intended the picture to awaken by its solemnity the deepest religious reflection. I chose the subject of burning leaves as most calculated to produce this feeling." I think it's beautiful.

The Schedule: Truth, Beauty, Goodness Co-op

2010-10-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

Model of the Globe Theatre

Life is good. The water has gone down. He came home. I have a passport! On top of all that, I know more about soybeans than I thought possible, Norman Rockwell used cutting edge technology, Shakespeare was brilliant in his use of high and low comedy, Haydn's Farewell Symphony is beautiful yet manipulative, Paul Laurence Dunbar knew the Wright Brothers, my children sew better than I do and boys and girls singing "The Keys to Canterbury" back and forth is too sweet.

Our Mason-style co-op, Truth, Beauty, Goodness just met and the above paragraph is just a sampling of all we enjoyed in our 4+ hours together. Previously, I wrote about the questions that are posed to new participants in our group. You can read that post here. Now I'd like to explain our schedule for you.

Helianthus annuus

We meet a total of 8 times per semester:

1 planning meeting

6 co-op meetings (every other Friday)

1 Family Night

This does not include any extra trips for shows/performances/etc.

The Planning Meeting
With planners, calendars and a computer spread over the table, the planning meeting is where the moms gather together and choose the dates we will meet, the homes we will meet in and our specific plans for our subject. We talk about how we might do things differently and where we might improve. I usually send a question our beforehand that we also discuss - something like "How is what I do here for the children's sake?" or "How will I establish more relationships in our group?" or even "What is something that Mason said about my subject that I will try to implement?"

Next, we go over the schedule carefully. We use short lessons and vary the types of lessons. It might not look like it, but this is pretty intense as complete attention is expected and generally, the kids have learned to attend very well.

The Co-op Meetings
Below is the schedule for our meetings.
Schedule - Truth, Beauty, Goodness Co-op

There are a few issues with the schedule. First, because every family is in a different historical period at home, we have not attempted to correlate the lessons. This has worked out anyway, as connections are inevitable and the children find them on their own. Also, the handicrafts section is new this semester for us and it seems to be working out well - it just pushes lunch back pretty late for some families. We try to keep nature study last, as each child takes a different amount of time to work in their notebooks.

I hope that you find this explanation of our co-op schedule helpful! It is an event our family anticipates and enjoys preparing for between meetings.

Rain, Passports and Gifts, Oh My!

2010-09-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

So, with Porfiry away at classes all week, we were blessed with a deluge of epic proportions. Let's just say the the freezer floats - who knew? Thank goodness Grandpa and LeMoyne were here. Here are some photos from the local newspaper. Still pumping...

Apparently, I'm a blinker...

Next up, passport crisis. I'm supposed to be attending the Charlotte Mason Education Conference and Symposium at Redeemer University in 12 days. I am really looking forward to this as the digitization of the archives will be unveiled and I look forward to seeing dear friends and hey - I would like to be inspired, thank you very much. I have been to Canada many, many times. When I was 10, my mom found an antique walnut bed and I had to scrunch up and ride underneath in order to get it home - 4 hours away in Ohio. It's the bed that is now in our bedroom. I even honeymooned in Canada - Niagara Falls and Toronto. So it just didn't click in my mind that I would need a passport. It turns out that since June 1, 2009, everyone going to Canada by air, land or sea needs a passport. (Hat tip - the 6 a.m. gals at Curves who brought this up four days ago.) And wouldn't you know, I don't have my birth certificate. I've never needed it. Thank goodness my mother still lives where I grew up, could go pick one up and overnight it to me. I have an appointment on Tuesday to try and get an expedited passport. Pray that it goes smoothly. The photo shoot didn't. It took three tries.

Have I mentioned that Porfiry has been gone all week?

FWIW - here's my version of Multitude Monday.

Fabled Friday - Five Gifts

1. He comes home this afternoon.

2. The littles are listening to an exceptional version of Just So Stories on audio so loud, you can hear it everywhere in the house.

3. I just picked up seven books from the library on Wordsworth and Tintern Abbey.

4. I now have a blog button! Anita from The Untamed Mouse designed this little beauty (she read my mind). It's over in the right sidebar. Feel free to grab the html code and paste it. Let me know if you have any problems.

5. 1 Peter 5:6-7 (KJV) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Sweetness & light,

Nancy